From the website:
The EAFSD places biographical and professional information about all foreign service officers in a relational data structure. This data structure allows users to trace the early American governments' attempts to deploy and control their overseas representatives.
The database also recreates the correspondence networks that sprang up between the officers as they sought from each other the information and expertise necessary to fulfill their duties.
The system is also a key component of my dissertation, "Revolution Mongers: Launching the U.S. Foreign Service, 1775-1825." It holds essays and data visualizations which express my arguments about the nature of the Early American Foreign Service. However, the argument goes much deeper than the words and images present on the EXPLORE and VISUAL ESSAYS pages.
The data model is an argument on the nature of diplomacy and diplomatic history. To learn more, read the esssay "Information and Power in the Early American Foreign Service: A Theoretical Approach," which will be located on the Visual Essays page.
Please read the the Acknowledgements Page to see how many people and institutions have made this site a reality.