Family, Slavery, and Love in the Early American Republic

“A masterful tribute to Lewis . . . . In a time when political divides over school curricula threaten to erase the complicated, messy contradictions of the nation’s founding in favor of a polished yet limiting triumphal perspective Lewis’s scholarship, once again, is a timely and necessary intervention.”—H-Net Reviews

“Markedly brilliant in both [its] breadth and depth of research. . . . [A] fitting tribute to a scholar whose work was at the vanguard of changing the nature of what was considered ‘worthy’ of study in American history, namely women’s and gender history and the intimate dynamics of the American family.”—English Historical Review

“This volume amply demonstrates the power of Lewis’s careful readings of texts, nuanced, interpretations, and meticulously constructed arguments. Seeing the full span of Lewis’s work and the way she often began pulling on threads that later scholars continued to unravel made me wish for an entire second volume exploring her legacy in these fields. Her influence will continue both through her published works and the many, many publications of scholars who build upon them."—Journal of Southern History

“The affection and admiration felt toward Lewis emanate from every contributor. . . It is a fitting tribute to Lewis’s scholarship and will also be of use to those interested in the history of the Early American Republic and how investigations of race, gender, and emotions provided insight into politics, the constitution, and Thomas Jefferson himself.”—Middle Ground Journal

“By compiling this gripping collection of essays, the editors provide a useful reader for both scholars familiar and unfamiliar with the authors. . . . [M]asterful.”—Eighteenth Century Studies

“An indefatigable researcher and a masterful essayist, Jan Lewis revealed how gender, slavery, and emotions converged within the early Republic’s political experiment and showed us why that convergence mattered.  Like a well-curated retrospective exhibit, this volume displays Lewis’s creative and wide-ranging reinterpretation of the founding era.”—John Lauritz Larson, Purdue University

“Learned, lucid, insightful, and humane, these essays aptly reflect Jan’s qualities as an inspirational mentor and pathbreaking scholar with a dazzling range of expertise. They collectively remind us of how much we have lost with her passing.”—Alan Taylor, author of American Republics

“When Lewis began her career, the early American Republic was a moribund field; this volume shows us the magic by which she brought it back to life. Field changing when it was first published, her work has maintained its relevance ever since.”—Serena Zabin, Carleton College