[{"id":661,"date":"2026-02-06T13:38:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T19:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/?page_id=661"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:39:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T19:39:50","slug":"volumes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/volumes\/","title":{"rendered":"Volumes"},"content":{"rendered":"

In three volumes, The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore<\/em> will feature letters written by or to those men from 1844 to 1853. The University of Tennessee Press<\/a> will publish them in hardcover. Rotunda, the University of Virginia’s digital imprint, will publish them in a searchable online edition as part of its American Documentary History Collection<\/a>. Each volume, one after its print and digital publication, will be issued as an open-access pdf in the American University Research Archive<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Coming in August 2026!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"cover<\/p>\n

Volume 1,\u00a0January 1844\u2013June 1848<\/em><\/p>\n

Available for preorder from the University of Tennessee Press<\/a> or your favorite bookstore<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBudding treason insists on extending the slave territory, and if it can not, threatens dissolution of this glorious union.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Millard Fillmore, June 22, 1844<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWar even when carried on in the mildest & most humane manner possible, is a scourge to any Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Zachary Taylor, January 5, 1848<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This series features letters written by or to Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, the twelfth (1849\u201350) and thirteenth (1850\u201353) presidents of the United States. It begins in 1844, when they became prominent national figures. It will continue through Taylor\u2019s death in the White House and end, in 1853, with Fillmore\u2019s political retirement. The letters document diverse perspectives on a growing and divided nation.<\/p>\n

In that decade, the United States expanded its boundaries while advancing toward civil war. Americans debated Caribbean and European revolutions, import tariff adjustments, a global cholera pandemic, the sale of alcohol, and Indigenous peoples\u2019 expulsion from the East. Presidents Taylor and Fillmore worked with Congress on the Compromise of 1850, an attempt to bridge the widening rift over the status of western territories and the enslavement of Black Americans.<\/p>\n

Volume 1 begins with the two men\u2019s emergence as national leaders and ends with their nominations as president and vice president. In 1844\u201345 Taylor, a Baton Rouge\u2013based cotton planter and army general, gathered troops near the US border with Texas. He soon led them into that republic, which the United States aimed to annex, then into Mexico, which still claimed Texas. In 1846\u201347 Taylor commanded forces in the Mexican-American War. That concluded in 1848 with the US acquisition of half of Mexico.<\/p>\n

Fillmore, a Buffalo lawyer and former congressman, failed in his bids in 1844 for the vice presidency and the New York governorship. He nonetheless contributed to the debate about Texas annexation and slavery. He became founding chancellor of the University of Buffalo in 1846 and won election as state comptroller in 1847. In the latter role, he enforced treaties with Native peoples and state laws affecting taxes, religion, and public schools.<\/p>\n

In June 1848 the Whig Party paired these very different men on its presidential ticket. This volume comprises their incoming and outgoing letters about war, immigration, voting, art, literature, gender, agriculture, technology, medicine, and more. Many discuss the people forced to labor on Taylor\u2019s Mississippi plantation and his skepticism of partisanship and presidential authority. The letters\u2019 authors range from the powerful and famous to the vulnerable and obscure. Over all loom questions of slavery, expansion, and the survival of the Union.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In three volumes, The Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore will feature letters written by or to those men from 1844 to 1853. The University of Tennessee Press will publish them in hardcover. Rotunda, the University of Virginia’s digital imprint, will publish them in a searchable online edition as part of its American Documentary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3183,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-661","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":536,"date":"2024-03-04T14:13:11","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T20:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/?page_id=536"},"modified":"2025-10-06T10:11:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T15:11:39","slug":"advisory-board","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/advisory-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Advisory Board"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"

“President Taylor and His Cabinet,” lithograph from drawing by Francis D’Avignon, from daguerreotypes by Mathew B. Brady, 1849 (Library of Congress)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

David C. Barker (Cochair)
\nAmerican University
\nExpertise: US politics, congressional and presidential studies<\/p>\n

Rachelle Moyer Francis (Cochair)
\nAurora Historical Society\/Millard Fillmore Presidential Site
\nExpertise: public history, elementary education<\/p>\n

Sheila Blackford
\nMiller Center at the University of Virginia
\nExpertise: information sciences, presidents<\/p>\n

Michael W. Fitzgerald
\nSt. Olaf College
\nExpertise: history of race, Southern politics<\/p>\n

Carlton Houston
\ndescendant of Zachary Taylor and Annie (enslaved woman); Instagram storyteller @myhistoryvibe
\nExpertise: communications, Black genealogy<\/p>\n

Barbara Alice Mann
\nUniversity of Toledo
\nExpertise: Indigenous culture and history, Black culture and history, presidents<\/p>\n

Aaron L. Mason
\nNorthwestern Oklahoma State University
\nExpertise: citizenship studies, presidents, Indigenous history<\/p>\n

Matthew Reeves
\nJames Madison\u2019s Montpelier
\nExpertise: archaeology, slavery<\/p>\n

Constance B. Schulz
\nUniversity of South Carolina
\nExpertise: documentary editing, public history, US women\u2019s and Revolutionary Era history<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Lorelei Thacker-Estrada
\nInstitute for Historical Study
\nExpertise: library science, history of women and first ladies<\/p>\n

Jonathan W. White
\nChristopher Newport University
\nExpertise: Black history, presidential history, documentary editing<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  David C. Barker (Cochair) American University Expertise: US politics, congressional and presidential studies Rachelle Moyer Francis (Cochair) Aurora Historical Society\/Millard Fillmore Presidential Site Expertise: public history, elementary education Sheila Blackford Miller Center at the University of Virginia Expertise: information sciences, presidents Michael W. Fitzgerald St. Olaf College Expertise: history of race, Southern politics Carlton […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3183,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-536","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/536\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":418,"date":"2022-08-18T11:31:42","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T16:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/?page_id=418"},"modified":"2026-03-13T15:56:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:56:51","slug":"videos","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/taylorandfillmore\/videos\/","title":{"rendered":"Videos & Podcasts"},"content":{"rendered":"

We aim to share knowledge of Taylor, Fillmore, their letters, and antebellum America as widely as possible. Here you can watch videos and hear podcasts that resulted from our outreach efforts. (Scroll down for our Jeopardy!<\/em> appearance.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n