Inside the JAH: Species of Sovereignty
“Species of Sovereignty: Native Nationhood, the United States, and International Law, 1783–1795,” might be my…
Browsing: Legal
Capital Punishment and the Battle for America’s Soul
In 1976, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan welcomed the news that after a ten-year moratorium, executions…
Histories of Capital Punishment in the United States
In late July, Attorney General William Barr directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to resume…
The Courtroom as Legal Borderland Indigenous and Western Legal Tradition in 1900s Alaska
Approaching the courtroom itself as a legal borderland—both as a place where colonial encounters between…
Little Bit Sovereign A Response to Gregory Ablavsky
Gregory Ablavsky, among the leading historians of Federal Indian law in the early republic, does…
“Like a Fart in a Skillet” Trial & Error in Undergraduate Legal History Instruction
In Spring 2014, my second year as assistant professor of history at University of Nebraska,…
Using Poor Laws to Regulate Race in Providence in the 1820s
In 1825, members of the town council of Providence, Rhode Island, made a public—and unusual—complaint.…
The Entitlements of Freedom A Mother’s Pursuit of Mastery in the Antebellum South
A United States provost marshal, a wealthy shoemaker, and one of the largest slave traders…
History, Power, and Federal Indian Law
Working in both law and history, I often encounter historians who express anxiety about treading…
Process Explores Legal History
Process is pleased to announce a new series on legal history, including articles about law,…