My research interests revolve around the early American state from the colonial period (1690) to the early Republican period (1815).

My first book focused on the 1776 Pennsylvania state constitution. I argue that every constitution represents an important waypoint in the development of constitutionalism and state power in the United States of America. The book analyses the relationship between the people and the state, focusing on the concept of public scrutiny. Public scrutiny is the idea that in a modern democracy the people ought to be able to supervise governmental proceedings and intervene in state decision making.

My second book project looks at the history of mortgages in Pennsylvania from 1720 to 1815. The state played an important role in establishing mortgages as a common financial practice in Pennsylvania. The project looks at how the state supported individual entrepreneurs to develop development of the industrial economy.

I am also interested in early America print culture, especially the role print ephemera in the development of the American Revolution and the emergence of the American demonym.

Research interests

• American Revolution
• Pennsylvania
• State Constitutions
• Mortgages
• Early American Print Culture

Teaching

I am an interdisciplinary practitioner and there are three main strands to my teaching. First, I am interested in quantitative reasoning. This is the idea that numbers have an important role in all the arts, humanities, and social science disciplines. Therefore, I am interested in helping students to engage with quantitative information in a way that builds both disciplinary and interdisciplinary skills. Second, I am a historian with an interest in political theory and contemporary politics. Third, I am interested in the material text/ history of the book. Material text studies are interested in the relationship between the physical text and how readers interpret the words on the page. 

Expertise and public engagement

Since 2016, I have been the fellows liaison for the Georgian Papers Programme (GPP). The GPP started as a partnership between King’s College London and the Royal Collections Trust to digitise 350,000 pages of material in the Royal Archives and Royal Library, only 15% of which has been previously published. GPP welcomed over 60 different fellows and produced a wide range of events and activities. For more information please visit: www.georgianpapers.com