In March 2026, I received the excellent news that I had been selected for the 2026-27 class of fellows at the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. As a three-month fellow, I will work on a side project titled “George Washington and New Spain: Diplomacy, Frontier Policy, and the Pacific Trade.”
The project examines George Washington’s interactions—both direct and indirect—with the Spanish territories of New Spain during the early Republic, focusing on diplomacy, western expansion, and economic strategy. While scholarship on Washington’s relationship with Spain has mainly focused on his relationship with the Court in Madrid, U.S. territorial pursuits in Florida, and navigation rights on the Mississippi River, my research centers on his connections to the Viceroyalty of New Spain and its colonial administration, with particular attention to U.S. trade interests in the Pacific.
