“That Agitating Element”: African Americans, Native Americans, and the Push for Citizenship in the 19th Century

This talk explores the ways in which African Americans and Native Americans shaped conceptions of U.S. citizenship in the 19th century. Although citizenship became more of a federal concern after the Civil War, this talk argues that African American and Native American activists began this transition in the antebellum period by appealing directly to the federal government to assert their rights.