Jeffrey L. Pasley


History Department
101 Read Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211


Campus office: 214A Read Hall
phone: (573) 882-4385
fax: (573) 884-5151
home office: (573) 446-2724

http://jeff.pasleybrothers.com
e-mail: PasleyJ AT missouri.edu

Up to date as of 16 July 2009.

EDUCATION

Ph.D., History of American Civilization, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., November 1993. Dissertation: "`Artful and Designing Men': Political Professionalism in the Early American Republic, 1775-1820." Adviser, Professor Bernard Bailyn.

A.M., History, Harvard University, 1990.

B.A., History, magna cum laude, Carleton College, Northfield, Minn., 1986.

WRITINGS

Book

"The Tyranny of Printers": Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2001. Paperback edition, 2003. [For details, see the posted synopsis, table of contents and sample chapter; or the book's companion web site.]

Edited Book

Beyond the Founders: New Approaches to the Political History of the Early American Republic (with David Waldstreicher and Andrew W. Robertson). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.

Online sequel (with Edward G. Gray): "Beyond the Valley of the Founders: Democracy in Early America, and After." The Common-Place Politics Issue 2008. Common-Place 9 (Oct. 2008), issue 1. Accompanied by “Myths of the Lost Atlantis: A blog series dedicated to Phil Lampi” (posts by guests and myself on scholarly and popular misconceptions about early American politics).

Scholarly Articles and Book Chapters

"Midget on Horseback American Indians and the History of the American State." Common-Place 9 (Oct. 2008), http://www.common-place.org/vol-09/no-01/pasley/

Easton's Thomas J. Rogers and the Rise of Newspaper Politics.” In Backcountry Crucibles: The Lehigh Valley from Settlement to Steel, ed. Jean R. Soderlund and Catherine Parzynski, 257-283. Bethlehem, Pa : Lehigh University Press, 2008. [Republished as a separate pamphlet by the Northampton County Historical Society, 2009.]

“Minnows, Spies, and Aristocrats: The Social Crisis of Congress in the Age of Martin Van Buren.” Journal of the Early Republic 27 (Winter 2007): 599-653.

“Politics and the Misadventures of Thomas Jefferson's Modern Reputation: A Review Essay.” Journal of Southern History 72 (2006): 1-38.

"The Cheese and the Words: Popular Political Culture and Participatory Democracy in the Age of Jefferson." In Beyond the Founders: New Approaches to the Political History of the Early American Republic, ed. Jeffrey L. Pasley, David Waldstreicher, and Andrew W. Robertson, 31-56. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.

"Democracy, Gentility, and Lobbying in the Early U.S. Congress." The American Congress: The Building of Democracy, ed. Julian E. Zelizer, 38-62. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.

“From Print-Shop to Congress and Back: Easton's Thomas J. Rogers and the Rise of Newspaper Politics.” In Backcountry Crucibles: The Lehigh Valley from Settlement to Steel, ed. Jean R. Soderlund and Catherine Parzynski. Bethlehem, Pa: Lehigh University Press. Forthcoming.

“Old Familiar Vampires: The Politics of the Buffyverse.” In Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale, ed. James B. South, 254-67. Chicago: Open Court Press, 2003

“1800 as a Revolution in Political Culture: Newspapers, Celebrations, Voting, and Democratization in the Early Republic.” In The Revolution of 1800: Democracy, Race, and the New Republic, ed. Peter S. Onuf, Jan E. Lewis, and James Horn, 121-152. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002.

"Private Access and Public Power: Gentility and Lobbying in the Early Congress." In The House and the Senate in the 1790s: Petitioning, Lobbying, and Institutional Development, ed. Kenneth R. Bowling and Donald R. Kennon, 57-99. Athens: Ohio University Press for the United States Capitol Historical Society, 2002.

"Party Politics, Citizenship, and Collective Action in Nineteenth-Century America: A Response to Stuart Blumin and Michael Schudson." Communication Review 4 (2000): 39-54.

"The Two National Gazettes: Newspapers and the Embodiment of American Political Parties." Early American Literature, 35, no. 1 (2000): 51-86.

"`A Journeyman, Either in Law or Politics': John Beckley and the Social Origins of Political Campaigning." Journal of the Early Republic 16 (Winter 1996): 531-569.

Encyclopedias and Reference Works

Associate Editor, The Encyclopedia of the New American Nation, ed. Paul Finkelman. Farmington Hills , Mich. : Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2005. Author of following articles: “Democratization” (with Andrew W. Robertson), “Newspapers,” “Niles Register,” “Political Culture,” “Politics Political Parties and the Press,” “Printers.”

 Associate Editor, Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia, ed. Peter Knight. Santa Barbara : ABC-Clio, 2003. Author of following articles: “Illuminati,” “Lewis, Meriwether,” “Abolitionists,” “Jackson, Andrew,” “Monk, Maria,” “Morse, Jedidiah,” “Alien and Sedition Acts,” “Native Americans.”

 "Election of 1796" and "The Role of the Press and Media in Presidential Elections." In American Presidential Campaigns and Elections, ed. William G. Shade, Ballard C. Campbell, and Craig R. Coenen. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2003.

Book Reviews

Review of John L. O’Sullivan and His Times by Robert Sampson. American Historical Review 110 (Oct. 2005): 1180-82.

Review of The Free and Open Press: The Founding of American Democratic Press Liberty by Robert W.T. Martin. William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser., 57 (2005): 339-433.

“When the Constitution Backfired.” Review of Jefferson’s Second Revolution: The Election Crisis of 1800 and the Triumph of Republicanism by Susan Dunn. The New Leader, Sept./Oct. 2004, 26-27.

The Revolution of 1774.” Review of The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord, by Ray Raphael. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 28, 2002.

Review of Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America, by Thomas Fleming (along with two other books on the Founders). Journal of American History 88 (Sept. 2001): 630-33. 

Review of The Popular Press, 1833-65, by William E. Huntzicker. Journal of the Early Republic 21 (Summer 2001): 387-90.

"Off the Pedestal and Between the Sheets." Review essay on Scandalmonger by William Safire.  Common-place 1 (Jan. 2001), no. 2. Length: 2500 words.

Review of "In the Midst of Perpetual Fetes": The Making of American Nationalism, 1776-1820, by David L. Waldstreicher. William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser., 57 (Oct. 2000): 896-900.

Review of A Republic of Men: The American Founders, Gendered Language, and Patriarchal Politics by Mark E. Kann. Journal of the Early Republic 19 (Summer 1999): 302-304.

Review of Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, Vols. X & XI. Journal of the Early Republic 15 (Spring 1995): 131-132.

Review of Franklin and Bache by Jeffery A. Smith. Pennsylvania History 58 (July 1991): 241-243.

"Spam in a Jam," Business and Society Review 74 (Summer 1990): 70-75. Subject: Review essay and historical analysis of the 1985-1986 Hormel strike.

Selected Popular History, Journalism, and Political Opinion

Author of the column “Publick Occurrences,” for Common-place [http://www.common-place.org], "The Interactive Journal of Early American Life," 2001-2002, 2005-. Relaunched as a weblog, “Publick Occurrences 2.0,” Jan. 2008-present.

“Popular Constitutionalism in Philadelphia: How Freedom of Expression was Secured by Two Fearless Newspaper Editors.” Pennsylvania Legacies 8 (May 2008): 6-11.

"Chasing the Ghosts of Proslavery Thugs: If you know where to look, landmarks in Weston, Mo., divulge a shameful prelude to the Civil War." Preservation, May/June 2003, 61-64.

Author of the weblog (‘blog), “Notes of a Left-Wing Cub Scout,” for History News Network, Aug. 2002-Sept. 2003.

"Jefferson Am-Bushed in Austin: The Difference between Jefferson and Bush's Electoral College Victories," TomPaine.com, December 19, 2000. Reprinted in Columbia Daily Tribune, Harrisburg Patriot-News, and other newspapers. Subject: Jefferson analogy and quotation used in George W. Bush’s "acceptance" speech in Austin, 13 December 2000.

"It's a Big Millennium," Tallahassee Democrat, February 19, 1997. Subject: Ken Burns' view of Thomas Jefferson. Re-published in the Miami Herald and other newspapers.

"When Journalists Get Bored," Tallahassee Democrat, June 10, 1996. Subject: press coverage of the first Whitewater verdicts.

"School for Scandal" (cover story), The New Republic, July 4, 1988. Subject: City University of New York's Graduate School of Political Management.

"The Aides Virus," The New Republic, October 19, 1987. Subject: Congressional aides and lobbying.

"Green Thumbs: The PiK and Roll and Other Scams from the Farm Belt," Washington Monthly, September 1987. Subject: abuses of farm subsidy programs.

"Worse Than Watt" (editorial), The New Republic, July 6, 1987.

"Twisted Sisters," The New Republic, June 22, 1987. Subject: the "sister city" movement.

"Not-So-Good Books," The New Republic, April 27, 1987. Subject: religion in high school history textbooks.

"The Press: Inside Dopes," The New Republic, February 23, 1987. Subject: what the conservative pundits knew about Oliver North.

"He's Back" (with Adam Paul Weisman), The New Republic, January 19, 1987. Subject: an early reexamination of President Jimmy Carter's record.

"The Idiocy of Rural Life" (cover story), The New Republic, December 8, 1986. Subject: myths about farming as an institution and as a lifestyle.

"Paper Pushers" (cover story), The New Republic, December 1, 1986. Subject: conservative college newspapers.

"Postmodern Hustle," The New Republic, November 3, 1986. Subject: political consultants who lure rich novices into campaigns they can't possibly win.

CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION

Papers and Invited Lectures

Thomas Paine and the U.S. Election of 1796: In which it is discovered that George Washington was more popular than Jesus.” Paper presented at the conference, “Thomas Paine and American Civil Liberties,” University of Milan [Università degli Studi di Milano, Facoltà di Scienze Politiche], Milan, Italy, October 20, 2008.

“Midget on Horseback: American Indian History and the Historiography of the Early American State ” (another new draft). Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic , Worcester , Mass. , July 20, 2007.

"Midget on Horseback: American Indians and the Historiography of the Early American State" (heavily revised new draft). Paper presented at the Policy History Conference, on History, Charlottesville, Va., June 2, 2006.

"Midget on Horseback: American Indians and the History of the Early American State." Paper presented at the Mid-America Conference on History, Lawrence, Kans., September 24, 2005.

"Newspaper Politics on the Missouri Frontier." Paper presented at "Roughing It: Printing and the Press in the West," 100th Anniversary Conference of the Bibliographical Society of America, St. Louis, Mo., October 14, 2004. Invited paper, with honorarium.

"The Case of the Green Arrow: Cultural Studies and the Politics of Popular Culture." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Popular Culture Association, Cleveland, Ohio, October 8, 2004.

Minnows, Spies, and Aristocrats: The Social Crisis of Congress in the Age of Martin Van Buren.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Providence, R.I., July 23, 2004.

“‘Immense Moral and Political Engines’: The First Newspaper Revolution and the Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1832.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians, Boston, Mass., March 26, 2004.

“Federalists 'R' Us? Reconsidering Recent Reconsiderations of the Revolution of 1800 and Jeffersonian Democracy.” Paper presented at the British Association for American Nineteenth-Century History meeting, Madingley Hall, Cambridge, Eng., U.K., October 6, 2003

"Border Ruffian Country: Missouri and the Bleeding of Kansas." Invited lecture in the Bleeding Kansas speaker series, Constitutional Hall State Historic Site, Lecompton, Kansas, Feb. 9, 2003.

"The Cheese and the Words: Popular Political Culture and Participatory Democracy in the Early American Republic." Paper presented at the Seventh Annual Conference of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, U.K., July 12, 2001.

"A Revolution of 1800 After All: The Political Culture of the Earlier Early Republic and the Origins of American Democracy." Paper presented at "The Revolution of 1800," a conference at the International Center for Jefferson Studies, Charlottesville, Va., December 2, 2000. Invited participant.

"The First Democracy Project: Politics, Participation, the Press and the First Party System." One of three papers presented under same general title at the annual meeting of the Social Science History Association, Pittsburgh, Pa., October 28, 2000.

"Conspiracy Theory and American Exceptionalism from the Revolution to Roswell." Paper presented at "Sometimes an Art:" A Symposium in Celebration of Bernard Bailyn's Fifty Years of Teaching and Beyond, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., May 13, 2000.

"From Print-Shop to Congress and Back: Easton's Thomas J. Rogers and the Rise of Newspaper Politics." Paper read at The Bitting Conference: Historical Perspectives on the Lehigh Valley Region, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., February 25, 2000. Invited participant.

"Party Politics, Citizenship, and Collective Action in Nineteenth-Century America: A Response to Stuart Blumin and Michael Schudson." Paper read at John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence conference, The Transformation of Civic Life: A Conference on Michael Schudson's The Good Citizen, Middle Tennessee State University, College of Mass Communication, Murfreesboro, Tenn., November 12, 1999. Invited participant.

"The Newest Political History." One of four papers grouped under same general title for a "roundtable" session, read at the annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Harper’s Ferry, W.V., July 17, 1998.

"Private Access and Public Power: Gentility and Lobbying under the Federalists." Paper read at annual conference of the United States Capitol Historical Society, Washington, D.C., April 17, 1998. This was an invitation-only (for presenters), expenses-paid conference, broadcast live on C-SPAN 2.

"The 'Indiscreet Zeal' of John Norvell: Newspaper Publishing and Politics in the Early Republic." Paper read at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians, Atlanta, Ga., April 14, 1994.

"Professional Politicians and the Creation of American Politics: Connecticut, 1797-1829." Paper presented to Workshop on American Political Development, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., December 9, 1992.

"The Professionalization of Connecticut Politics, 1798-1818." Paper read at the annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Gettysburg, Pa., July 17, 1992. Also organized session.

"The Character Issue Then and Now." Talk given at Committee on Degrees in History and Literature forum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., November 4 (Election Day), 1992.

Other Participation

Commentator on panel, “Embodied Politics: Jeffrey L. Pasley’s Tyranny of Printers.” Annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, Calif., July 12, 2002.

Organizer of two sessions, "Beyond The Founders I: New Approaches To Political History," and "Beyond The Founders II: Social Identities and Political Practices."Annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., July 20-21, 2001.

Commentator on session, "News and Opinion." Annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic, State University of New York at Buffalo, Amherst, N.Y., July 22, 2000.

Discussant, "James Fenimore Cooper on Nature and Civil Society," Liberty Fund Colloquium, St. Paul, Minn., Oct. 14-17, 1999.  Invitation-only, expenses-paid conference including historians, philosophers, literary scholars and political scientists from across nation. 

Discussant, "Liberty Fund Summer Series: Shakespeare and Machiavelli," Liberty Fund Colloquium, Lake Tahoe, Calif., July 26-August 1, 1999. Invitation-only, expenses-paid conference including historians, philosophers, literary scholars and political scientists from across nation. 

Discussant, "Liberty and Order: The First American Party Struggle," Liberty Fund Colloquium, Lexington, Ky., April 23-26, 1998. Invitation-only, expenses-paid conference including historians and political scientists from across nation. 

Discussant, "Liberty in Whig Political Thought," Liberty Fund Colloquium, March 5-8, 1998, St. Paul, Minn. Invitation-only, expenses-paid conference including historians and political scientists from across nation. 

Commentator for session, "Democratization and Depression: Changing Political Ideologies in the Early Republic." Annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic, Nashville, Tenn., July 15, 1996.

Chair and commentator for session, "American Voices." Annual meeting of the Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Tallahassee, Fla., March 1, 1996.

Discussant, "Liberty and Responsibility in the Debate on Slavery," Liberty Fund Colloquium, St. Paul, Minn., August 10-13, 1995. Invitation-only, expenses-paid conference including historians and political scientists from across nation. 

TEACHING

August 2002-present, Associate Professor of History, University of Missouri-Columbia
Aug. 1999-Aug. 2002, Assistant Professor of History, University of Missouri-Columbia

Courses Taught

August 1993-June 1999, Assistant Professor of History, Florida State University (granted tenure, May 1999, but resigned)

Courses Taught

September 1989-June 1992, Teaching Fellow in History, Harvard University

September 1990-June 1993, Teaching Fellow in History and Literature, Harvard University

 AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND GRANTS

SERVICE

Public Contacts

Interviewed by New York Times, Kansas City Star, San Francisco Chronicle, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Washington Post, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Spokane Spokesman-Review, Lakeland Ledger, Asbury Park Press, Columbia Daily Tribune, Tallahassee Democrat, and local radio and television stations. Gave op-ed on NPR radio show "Talking History," 6 Aug. 2001 (listen here).

Professional Service

University Service

Departmental Service

At University of Missouri-Columbia: Graduate Financial Aid (2001-2002), Technology Committee, Progressive Era search committee, Graduate Studies Committee (1999-2000)

At Florida State University: Curriculum Committee, three search committees, Colloquium and Visiting Lectures Committee (chair), Future of the Department Committee, Salary Committee, Executive Committee, Ad hoc committee on Third_Year Review, Ad hoc committee on plagiarism and academic fraud (chair)

OTHER RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE

May-September 1990, Research Assistant, historian Daniel Yergin, Cambridge Energy Research Associates

-- Assisted Yergin with the research for and editing of The Prize (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990), a history of oil in international politics.

May-September 1988, Research Assistant, journalist/historian Michael Barone (Almanac of American Politics)

-- Assisted Barone with the research, editing and writing of Our Country (New York: Free Press, 1990), a history of U.S. politics since 1930.

September 1987-April 1988, Speechwriter, Senator Albert Gore, Jr. (D-Tenn.)

-- Wrote speeches for Senator Gore during his campaign for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. Duties included writing original speeches, editing and adapting old ones, editing speeches and policy statements written by other staffers, researching local areas in advance of some appearances, and developing policies for use in speeches.

September 1986-September 1987, Reporter-Researcher, The New Republic

-- Worked as staff writer on nation's leading journal of opinion. Did occasional research for editors, participated in editorial planning meetings and editorial luncheons with American and foreign leaders. See below for a partial list of published articles.

May-September 1987, Washington Correspondent, Wisconsin State Journal

-- On a part-time basis, contributed news reports on national issues and Wisconsin leaders to the largest daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin.