While at Radcliffe, I will work on a book about the legal and political history of money in the United States from the Civil War until World War I. The project links the transformation of the legal and popular conceptions of money with the rise, and then virtual disappearance, of monetary policy as an electoral politics issue. Late nineteenth century Americans struggled, through the political process, over whether money would be based on gold, silver, or government fiat. Early twentieth century Americans learned to view monetary policy as a realm where technical expertise and thus neutrality would yield optimal arrangements. The research focuses on the movement to insulate money from popular politics, and asks how shifts in the meaning of money transformed the experiences of democracy, politics, and self-government.

I will rely on the student research partner primarily for library research and would be happy to involve her or him in archival research as well. Familiarity with nineteenth century American history and historical research methods would be helpful but is not essential.