Indian Nullification of the Unconstitutional Laws of Massachusetts, Relative to the Marshpee Tribe : Or, the Pretended Riot Explained (American indian

by William Apess, Jack Campisi (Introduction)

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

1798-1839, also known as William Apes. Methodist preacher, writer and political activist of Pequot and mixed heritage. His book A Son of the Forest was among the first published autobiographies by a Native American.

Reviews

[Josh Medrano · Rating 2 out of 5]

TL;DR: It’s a historically valuable text that’s borderline unreadable.

Texts like Indian Nullification - centered on non-Trail of Tears injustices and told from the indigenous perspective - are extremely scarce, and consequently, they are also extremely valuable to our understanding of history. Nonetheless, it’s plagued by the same wordiness, slow pace, and overbearing moral appeals that drive most people away from 19th century literature in general. Is it fair to pit this text’s readability against contemporary white authors like Hawthorne and Melville? No. Does it feel good to rate this two stars? No. But to rate it any higher would be to patronize, lie, or both. Native Americans have had more than their fill of that kind of bullshit.

[Humphrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part personal appeal, part court history, part letters, and part newspaper clippings, this book is as odd as it is fascinating. Indian Nullification documents the struggle of one tribe against a legal structure, demonstrating the elusiveness of the source of power - and the justification of equality - in a democracy through its diverse scope of arguments.

[Kaitlyn Connell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a historical text with academic application. It has purpose; it is just slow and repetitive in order to make its point obvious to even the most ignorant.

Don't ask me to read this again.