Historian Honored With Center for Presidential History Prize

Susan Gaunt Stearns, associate professor of history, published "Empire of Commerce: The Closing of the Mississippi and the Opening of Atlantic Trade" (University of Virginia Press) in 2024. The book reviews the role of trade on the river from 1783 to 1803 in shaping the country.

"My book explains how, in the decades following the Revolution, the United States made the leap over the Appalachian Mountains and incorporated the Mississippi Valley with the original 13 colonies," Stearns said. "Ultimately, I argue that it was national and international trade that created the ties that bound together the new nation."

Since 2023, the SMU Center for Presidential History each year selects a distinguished first book on U.S. presidential history. The prize includes a $2,500 stipend and will offer Stearns an opportunity to deliver the center's annual Book Prize lecture in 2026.

"The Center for Presidential History has honored several great books since they began awarding the prize," the Ole Miss professor said. "Previous winners have focused on the 20th century, so I am glad to add a study that includes Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Jackson to the mix."

In "Empire of Commerce," Stearns uses primary sources such as newspapers to show how Spain's 1784 closing of the Mississippi River influenced the young nation.

The book prize committee unanimously praised Stearns' book as a deep consideration of the role of commerce in early America. The committee chose "Empire of Commerce" from a wide field of submissions.

"I worked on this book for over a decade, and it is wonderful to find that people have not only enjoyed it, but learned something from it," Stearns said. "I'm honored to have received the award."

Top: George Caleb Bingham’s 1846 painting 'The Jolly Flatboatmen' features a lighthearted moment aboard a cargo raft traversing the Mississippi River, the beginning of the country's western frontier and a major avenue of commerce. The painting is the cover art for Susan Gaunt Stearns' 'Empire of Commerce: The Closing of the Mississippi and the Opening of Atlantic Trade.' Submitted image