Category Archives: History

The Unexamined Title: Institutions Defended in Operation Whose Origin Is Never Litigated

Posted on August 14, 2026 by nathanalbright

Paper 2 of Five Abstract This paper names a general form: the institution whose daily operation is argued about at length and whose original acquisition is never argued about at all. Defenders and critics alike may contest how the institution … Continue reading →

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What Was Not Said: A Prolegomenon to Reading Absence in Theological Controversy

Posted on August 14, 2026 by nathanalbright

§1. The Problem of the Settled Verdict 1.1 Two ways a field closes A field can close in two ways, and from the outside they look the same. It can be exhausted: every question worth asking has been asked, the … Continue reading →

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One Family Tree: The Documented History of Pseudolaw

Posted on August 12, 2026 by nathanalbright

Paper 2 of a Series on Pseudolaw Abstract Pseudolegal theories are typically encountered as isolated curiosities: a strange filing in a foreclosure case, an unusual argument at a traffic stop, a seminar advertised in a church bulletin. Presented this way, … Continue reading →

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Two Grudges in Search of a Category: Resentment Attributed to Howard Jones and Resentment Attributed to His Reviewers, Toward a General Typology

Posted on August 11, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract Two accusations circulate around the mid-1980s reception of Howard Jones, and each is an accusation of resentment. The first is made by reviewers about the music: beneath the synthesizer optimism sits a scolding, aggrieved posture toward audiences, institutions, and … Continue reading →

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The Logic of en and et: Gender Assignment in the Danish Indefinite Article

Posted on August 10, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract Danish presents the learner with two indefinite articles, en and et, where English offers one. The usual explanation — that Danish nouns have two genders and one must simply memorize which is which — is true but unhelpful, and … Continue reading →

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Making Absence Findable Without Making Fabrication Admissible: Institutional Design for the Recovery of Unnamed Maternity

Posted on August 9, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract The four preceding papers in this series established an evidentiary typology for founding-era paternity claims, demonstrated that the standard applied to the Jefferson–Hemings case was anomalously strict relative to like claims, proposed a genetic-genealogical program for identifying the mother … Continue reading →

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The Unasked Question: Historiographical Incuriosity Toward the Mothers of Acknowledged Illegitimate Children, and a Program for Genetic Resolution

Posted on August 9, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract American historical writing exhibits a consistent and underexamined pattern: where a prominent man acknowledged an illegitimate child, the acknowledgment closed the biographical question, and the mother’s identity ceased to be treated as a research problem. This paper documents the … Continue reading →

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Identifying the Mother of William Franklin: A Proposal for a Genetic-Genealogical and Documentary Research Program

Posted on August 9, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract The maternity of William Franklin (c. 1730–1813), illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin and royal governor of New Jersey, has never been resolved. No contemporary document names the woman; no family tradition survives naming her; the historiography has produced candidates … Continue reading →

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Comparable Cases: The Jefferson–Hemings Question Against Other Founding-Era Paternity Claims

Posted on August 9, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract The Jefferson–Hemings case is frequently discussed as though it were singular — either as a uniquely well-documented scandal or as a uniquely aggressive scholarly imposition. Neither framing survives comparison. This paper surveys the founding generation for structurally similar claims: … Continue reading →

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Evidentiary Standards and the Jefferson–Hemings Question: Distinguishing Genetic Findings, Circumstantial Inference, and Family Tradition

Posted on August 9, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract Public and institutional discourse increasingly treats three distinct propositions as a single settled fact: that Thomas Jefferson fathered the children of Sally Hemings, that the 1998 Y-chromosome study demonstrated this, and that Jefferson and Hemings concluded a negotiated agreement … Continue reading →

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