Category / Publications

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Dr. Dawn Peterson in ‘Slate’ on “Andrew Jackson’s Adopted Indian Son”

Illustration from John Frost's 1860 biography, A Pictorial History of Andrew Jackson.

Illustration from John Frost’s 1860 biography, A Pictorial History of Andrew Jackson – Internet Archive 

Professor Dawn Peterson was recently interviewed for a piece in Slate by Rebecca Onion. Prompted by discussions following the decision to replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, the article hones in on one piece of Jackson’s life frequently cited by those who defend his legacy: his adoption of a infant Creek boy in 1813. Peterson offers historical context for the adoption of Lyncoya (the name given by Jackson to the orphaned boy) and the practice in southern society more broadly. These insights derive from Peterson’s recent research and especially her forthcoming book Indians in the National Family: Adoption and the Politics of Antebellum Expansion (Harvard University Press in 2017). Read an excerpt from the piece below and check out the full article here.

Though they adopted native children, slaveholders like Jackson imagined “they were assimilating Native people and their lands into the confines of the United States. They believed that what they were doing was a benevolent act, but also understood it as a form of cultural genocide.” 

 

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PhD Alumna Elizabeth Bouldin (’12) Publishes ‘Women Prophets and Radical Protestantism in the British Atlantic World, 1640-1730’

Women Prophets and Radical Protestantism in the British Atlantic World, 1640–1730

Dr. Elizabeth Bouldin, Assistant Professor of History at Florida Gulf Coast University and an alumna of the history graduate program, recently published Women Prophets and Radical Protestantism in the British Atlantic World, 1640-1730 with Cambridge University Press. Check out a summary below and the page for the book on Cambridge UP’s website here.

This book examines the stories of radical Protestant women who prophesied between the British Civil Wars and the Great Awakening. It explores how women prophets shaped religious and civic communities in the British Atlantic world by invoking claims of chosenness. Elizabeth Bouldin interweaves detailed individual studies with analysis that summarizes trends and patterns among women prophets from a variety of backgrounds throughout the British Isles, colonial North America, and continental Europe. Highlighting the ecumenical goals of many early modern dissenters, Women Prophets and Radical Protestantism in the British Atlantic World, 1640–1730 places female prophecy in the context of major political, cultural, and religious transformations of the period. These include transatlantic migration, debates over toleration, the formation of Atlantic religious networks, and the rise of the public sphere. This wide-ranging volume will appeal to all those interested in European and British Atlantic history and the history of women and religion.

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Three History Majors Recognized in Woodruff Library Undergraduate Research Award Contest

The panel of judges for the 2016 Woodruff Library Undergraduate Research Award recognized the outstanding scholarship of three History Department majors. Samantha Keng and Zixuan (Armstrong) Li each received $500 prizes for undergraduate research papers. Keng’s paper, sponsored by Professor Carol Anderson, is titled “Model Minority Awakenings: Vincent Chin, Asian America’s Emmett Till.” Li’s work, titled “Doner Kebab: Symbol of German Multiculturalism in the Turkish Immigration Question,” was supported by Dr. Astrid Eckert. A third History Department major, Emily Moore received an Honorable Mention. Titled “‘A Casket Full of Precious Memoirs’: The Town of Washington’s Conception of Its Own History,” Moore was sponsored by Dr. Leslie Harris. Congratulations to these students and their advisers on outstanding work. Descriptions of each piece can be found in the Emory Undergraduate Research Journal (EURJ) from pages 66-69. Also see the news release on the Woodruff library’s Scholar Blog.

From left to right: Emily Moore, Zixuan (Armstrong) Li, Samantha Keng, & Hannah ConwayFrom left to right: Emily Moore, Zixuan (Armstrong) Li, Samantha Keng, & Hannah Conway

 

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Professor Tonio Andrade and his “The Gunpowder Age” Featured by Emory News Center

The Emory News Center recently published a profile of Dr. Tonio Andrade and his newest work, The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Intervention, and the Rise of the West in World History. The piece, titled “Emory historian tackles China’s military history with ‘The Gunpowder Age,'” is available in full here. Check out an excerpt below.

Over the past year, China has built artificial islands — with their own airstrips and military facilities — as part of its claim to land in the international trade routes in the seas east and south of the country.

The territorial claims escalated this year when U.S. and Taiwan officials said China had put surface-to-air missiles on one of the disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Is this a new threat from a nation that historians have argued remained a military afterthought in part because of the codes of Confucianism?

Not according to Emory historian Tonio Andrade who shows in his new book, “The Gunpowder Age,” that the idea that China has historically been a peaceful nation, little interested in military matters, is not true.

Gunpowder Age

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PhD Alumnus Adam T. Rosenbaum Publishes ‘Bavarian Tourism and the Modern World, 1800–1950’

Adam T. Rosenbaum, Assistant Professor of History at Colorado Mesa University, recently published Bavarian Tourism and the Modern World, 1800-1950 with Cambridge University Press. The book was based on Rosenbaum’s dissertation, completed under the supervision of Dr. Astrid M. Eckert. Rosenbaum graduated from Emory in 2011 with a PhD in Modern German History.

Bavarian Tourism and the Modern World, 1800–1950

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Chad R. Fulwider, Emory PhD Alumnus, Publishes ‘German Propaganda and U.S. Neutrality in World War I ‘

Chad R. Fulwider, Associate Professor of History at the Centenary College of Louisiana, recently published German Propaganda and U.S. Neutrality in World War I with the University of Missouri Press. Fulwider graduated from Emory’s PhD program in 2008 with a specialization in Modern European History. Below is a review of Fulwider’s new work.

“Until now, there has been no comprehensive study of German propagandists’ efforts to keep the United States out of the First World War. In this deeply researched book, Chad Fulwider presents a nuanced view of these propaganda operations, exposing many fascinating aspects of these activities and filling a large gap in the historiography of World War I.”—Thomas Boghardt, author of The Zimmerman Telegram: Intelligence, Diplomacy, and America’s Entry into World War I

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Andrade’s ‘The Gunpowder Age’ Reviewed in The Wall Street Journal

Tonio Andrade‘s The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History (Princeton 2016) was reviewed by Jeffrey Wasserstrom in The Wall Street Journal on January 29, 2016. The article, available here, is titled “Flying Rats and Festive Fireworks.” Wasserstrom’s appreciative review describes the The Gunpowder Age as marking “a major contribution to a significant area of academic concern while opening the eyes of non-specialists.”

The description of The Gunpowder Age from Princeton University Press follows:

The Chinese invented gunpowder and began exploring its military uses as early as the 900s, four centuries before the technology passed to the West. But by the early 1800s, China had fallen so far behind the West in gunpowder warfare that it was easily defeated by Britain in the Opium War of 1839–42. What happened? In The Gunpowder Age, Tonio Andrade offers a compelling new answer, opening a fresh perspective on a key question of world history: why did the countries of western Europe surge to global importance starting in the 1500s while China slipped behind?

Historians have long argued that gunpowder weapons helped Europeans establish global hegemony. Yet the inhabitants of what is today China not only invented guns and bombs but also, as Andrade shows, continued to innovate in gunpowder technology through the early 1700s—much longer than previously thought. Why, then, did China become so vulnerable? Andrade argues that one significant reason is that it was out of practice fighting wars, having enjoyed nearly a century of relative peace, since 1760. Indeed, he demonstrates that China—like Europe—was a powerful military innovator, particularly during times of great warfare, such as the violent century starting after the Opium War, when the Chinese once again quickly modernized their forces. Today, China is simply returning to its old position as one of the world’s great military powers.

By showing that China’s military dynamism was deeper, longer lasting, and more quickly recovered than previously understood, The Gunpowder Age challenges long-standing explanations of the so-called Great Divergence between the West and Asia.
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Jeffrey Lesser on CNN.com: ‘Brazil Protests: What they Mean’

Dr. Jeffrey Lesser, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of History, wrote an opinion piece for CNN.com titled “What Brazil’s Protests Mean.” Lesser, an expert in the history of Brazil and current fellow of the Intercultural Dialogues group at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of São Paulo, discusses recent anti-government demonstrations. Here is an excerpt from the end of the piece:

One of the many joys of being a historian is that I do not have to predict the future. But seeing the weekend’s demonstrations close up, one thing was very clear — the use of the street as a location for making political points looks set to continue. And in doing so, it suggests a healthy democracy in Brazil — even during these times of political, economic, and social uncertainty.

Jeffrey Lesser

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Michael D. Thompson (Ph.D., 2009) Publishes ‘Working on the Dock of the Bay: Labor and Enterprise in an Antebellum Southern Port’

Michael D. Thompson (Ph.D., 2009), who recently was tenured and promoted to the rank of UC Foundation Associate Professor of American History at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has published Working on the Dock of the Bay: Labor and Enterprise in an Antebellum Southern Port (University of South Carolina Press, 2015), a study of waterfront work and workers in Charleston, South Carolina, between 1783-1861.  Thompson’s manuscript for this project was awarded the 2011 Hines Prize from the College of Charleston’s Program in the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World (CLAW).

book jacket for Working on the Dock of the Bay