My primary interests lay in the social history of the antebellum United States (1789-1860), the history of the American South, and the history of economic development. Secondarily, I focus on using case studies of local history to explore national and international trends. I believe that all historical scholarship and teaching should be addressed to a wider public than merely fellow academics. As such I have been a public historian since the mid-1980s, as well as a digital scholar since the early 1990s.
Primary Sources Available
I just completed a page of links to a complete set of Georgia Manuscript Censuses from 1820-1930. Also under census data, I have extracted Georgia county level data from tables the compendium of the census, from 1900 to 2010. In 19th century newspapers, look for links to complete series of Niles Weekly Register, Hunts Merchant Magazine, DeBow’s Review, American Farmer, and American Annual Register.
Finally, I am posting all my primary research on the life of Augustin Smith Clayton on the Clayton Documents page. Following the themed subpages, one could discover much about Cherokee Removal from Georgia, the Bank War from one of its front line soldiers, nullification from outside South Carolina, and the formation of the Whig Party. Plus there is a good deal of data on political and social history in Georgia in the Early Republic.
Michael J. Gagnon 