Lauren Jarnach

DPhil Research Topic

Visions and Revisions: Writing the Body Politic in the Reconstruction Frontier

Supervisors: Adam Smith and Nicholas Cole

My research examines rhetorical argument and procedural mechanisms employed by the Western state constitutional constitutional conventions in negotiating citizenship and political participation rights in the Reconstruction Frontier and the engagement with those constitutional conventions by minority groups.

The question of citizens’ constitutionally-guaranteed rights and membership within the body politic is both a historical and textual one. Understanding constitutional documents relies upon understanding the moment in which they were written—not only the historical moment but what occurred on the convention floor. What rhetorical strategies did delegates use in order to advance their positions on Black, woman, or immigrant suffrage, for example? How did they use and misuse parliamentary procedure? And how were minority groups engaging with the parliamentary process (through petition writing or holding parallel conventions), print culture (through newspapers and pamphlets), or other media in order to make space for themselves within emerging polities? 

The post-Civil War constitutions in the American West are an especially interesting case that demonstrates state drafters’ engagement with federal conversations and constitutional change after a major political event—the Reconstruction amendments and Civil War—which bore directly upon civil rights, created an enlarged citizenry, and provided an arena in which to settle the yet unsolved questions of race, gender, religion, and nativity. By probing the relationship between federal constitutional change, state constitutional drafting, and attempts at political participation by excluded or previously excluded groups, my project contributes to the history of U.S. constitution writing with a view to the West, identifies an alternative vision of Union that emerged in that region, and explores the boundaries of the body politic through the act of writing.

Academic Background

I hold a Master of Studies (MSt) in English Literature (1700-1830) from Kellogg College, University of Oxford, and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English Literature and Art History from the University of Alabama.

Prior to beginning my DPhil, I worked for six years as a Senior Documentary Editor at the Quill Project, Pembroke College, University of Oxford, where I researched and edited digital editions of American state constitutions, the Indian Constitution, and the Australian Constitution.

Publications

Lauren Davis Jarnach, “Negotiating the Arizona Constitution: The Role of Parliamentary Procedure in Ensuring Democratic Textual Outcomes”, The Docket, 8, no. 1-2 (2025): https://lawandhistoryreview.org/article/lauren-davis-jarnach-negotiating...

Lauren Davis, Aaron Kushner, Harriet Carter, Elizabeth Green, Annabel Harris, Grace Penn, Nicholas Jacobs (eds.), Arizona Constitutional Convention (1910) [2023 Edition], Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, 2023)

Lauren Davis, Kieran Hazzard, Elizabeth Green, Grace Penn, and Grace Mallon (eds.), U.S. Constitutional Convention 1787 (2021 Edition), Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, 2021).

Lauren Davis, Nick Williford, Sebastian Bates, and, Elizabeth Green, Grace Penn, and Lusiana Castiglione (eds.), United States Bill of Rights 1789 (2021 Edition), Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, 2021).