C. J. Martin

Oct 27, 2023 | commonplace.online | Zachary Turpin |Robert Gross |Christian Fritz |C. J. Martin

. . . at first it seems incredible . . . that such-and-such a thing can be discovered, but after it has been discovered, it again seems incredible that it couldelude men for so long. – Francis Bacon, The New Organon (1620)To students new to the study of nineteenth-century American literature, it may seem that the field has been so thoroughly studied and catalogued that there can be very little left to discover about it. This could hardly be further from the truth.

Jun 20, 2023 | commonplace.online | Christian Fritz |C. J. Martin |Timothy Messer-Kruse |Dror Goldberg

*  *  *  *As originally conceived, interposition rested on the idea that state legislatures were essential monitors of the equilibrium of federalism—and a state legislature’s declaration that acts of the federal government were misguided and even unconstitutional was a legitimate form of political resistance. Nullification, however, whether of a Supreme Court’s decision or an act of Congress was never contemplated by the framers as a power enjoyed by any single state.

Jun 6, 2023 | commonplace.online | C. J. Martin |Christian Fritz |Timothy Messer-Kruse |Dror Goldberg

This is the story of how a visit by Frederick Douglass to south-central Massachusetts, its leadup and aftermath, epitomizes the movement’s ability to spread in the region. Save to PDFPrint“A beautiful . . . sun shone upon” the Unitarian meeting house in Uxbridge, Massachusetts on June 25, 1845.