“To Preserve This Remnant:” William Apess, the Mashpee Indians, and the Politics of Nullification
This article situates the work of American Indian writer and activist William Apess in the context of contemporaneous debates around removal of the Cherokee nation from the state of Georgia and the secession crisis brought on by South Carolina. These two national political battles inform the work Ap...
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European Association for American Studies
2018-06-01
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12635 |
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| author | Neil Meyer |
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| description | This article situates the work of American Indian writer and activist William Apess in the context of contemporaneous debates around removal of the Cherokee nation from the state of Georgia and the secession crisis brought on by South Carolina. These two national political battles inform the work Apess does with the Mashpee Indian community of Cape Cod, represented by their collected work The Indian Nullification of the Unconstitutional Laws of Massachusetts, Relative to the Marshpee Tribe: or, The Pretended Riot Explained (1835). Building on the scholarship by Maureen Konkle, Andy Doolen, and others, this article argues that Apess frames the state-level political battle of the Mashpee in the larger national context of removal and southern secession as a means of disrupting the political logic of the state of Massachusetts. In seeing the political treatment of the Cherokee by the federal government, Apess rhetorically recasts the Mashpee community as “nullifying” state law as a means to both barter for enhanced rights for the community and, more importantly, call into question what Indian citizenship and sovereignty meant for the most vulnerable forms of Indian community in antebellum New England. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d98cbc0e2df84e4d8aa1388e5e89a4bc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2018-06-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-d98cbc0e2df84e4d8aa1388e5e89a4bc2025-01-06T09:09:25ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362018-06-0113210.4000/ejas.12635“To Preserve This Remnant:” William Apess, the Mashpee Indians, and the Politics of NullificationNeil MeyerThis article situates the work of American Indian writer and activist William Apess in the context of contemporaneous debates around removal of the Cherokee nation from the state of Georgia and the secession crisis brought on by South Carolina. These two national political battles inform the work Apess does with the Mashpee Indian community of Cape Cod, represented by their collected work The Indian Nullification of the Unconstitutional Laws of Massachusetts, Relative to the Marshpee Tribe: or, The Pretended Riot Explained (1835). Building on the scholarship by Maureen Konkle, Andy Doolen, and others, this article argues that Apess frames the state-level political battle of the Mashpee in the larger national context of removal and southern secession as a means of disrupting the political logic of the state of Massachusetts. In seeing the political treatment of the Cherokee by the federal government, Apess rhetorically recasts the Mashpee community as “nullifying” state law as a means to both barter for enhanced rights for the community and, more importantly, call into question what Indian citizenship and sovereignty meant for the most vulnerable forms of Indian community in antebellum New England.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12635William ApessnullificationNative American literatureUnited States historylaw and literature |
| spellingShingle | Neil Meyer “To Preserve This Remnant:” William Apess, the Mashpee Indians, and the Politics of Nullification European Journal of American Studies William Apess nullification Native American literature United States history law and literature |
| title | “To Preserve This Remnant:” William Apess, the Mashpee Indians, and the Politics of Nullification |
| title_full | “To Preserve This Remnant:” William Apess, the Mashpee Indians, and the Politics of Nullification |
| title_fullStr | “To Preserve This Remnant:” William Apess, the Mashpee Indians, and the Politics of Nullification |
| title_full_unstemmed | “To Preserve This Remnant:” William Apess, the Mashpee Indians, and the Politics of Nullification |
| title_short | “To Preserve This Remnant:” William Apess, the Mashpee Indians, and the Politics of Nullification |
| title_sort | to preserve this remnant william apess the mashpee indians and the politics of nullification |
| topic | William Apess nullification Native American literature United States history law and literature |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12635 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT neilmeyer topreservethisremnantwilliamapessthemashpeeindiansandthepoliticsofnullification |