Liberated from the Liberator: Frederick Douglass and Garrisonian Political Theology

I argue that Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison held very different political theologies, even while they seemed to work productively together from 1841 to 1847. Examining Douglass's self-presentation on both sides of his split with Garrison, I conclude that he stifled his Christian moral vision in order to comply with Garrisonian theological ideals while working in New England. After moving to Rochester, New York, Douglass was free to give full voice to his authentic Christian political vision. I explore their differing approaches to the Bible's authority, theological anthropology, and the moral permissibility of force, which influenced their political responses to slavery. Scholars such as John Stauffer and John Sekora have argued that his departure facilitated esthetic and racial forms of emancipation for Douglass; I argue that leaving Garrison allowed Douglass to express not only his authentic literary and black identities, but his true Christian identity as well.     

The imperial gospel according to Frederick Madden

Select Documents on the Constitutional History of the British Empire and Commonwealth edited by Frederick Madden. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 8 vols., 1985–2000.

I. ‘The Empire of the Bretaignes’, 1175–1688 (1985, 0–313–23897–9)

II. The Classical Period of the First British Empire, 1689–1783 (1985,0–313–25176–2)

IE. Imperial Reconstruction, 1763–1840 (1987, 0–313–25916‐X)

IV. Settler Self‐Government, 1840–1900 (1990, 0–313–27326‐X)

V. The Dependent Empire and Ireland, 1840–1890 (1991, 0–313–27757–5)

VI. The Dominions and India Since 1900 (1993, 0–313–27317–0)

VII. The Dependent Empire, 1900–1948 (1994,0–313–27318–9)

VIII. The End of Empire: Dependencies Since 1948 (2000,0–313–29072–5, £83.95)     

Commentary Frederick J. Simoons,Cultural Geographer

Canadian identity is threatened. Canada is first and foremost a state, an institution before being a socio-cultural reality. The country needs the state to survive. Its viability is based both on a healthy economy which ensures prosperity and on the critical role that such prosperity allows the state to assume by redistributing wealth. In the future, the ability of the state to pursue these ends may be seriously reduced and the unique character of Canadian society thus diminished. The dilemma associated with the Canadian-American, free-trade agreement issue is revealing in this light. While free trade seems to be the only solution to maintain a strong Canadian economy, it could at the same time, threaten the very existence of Canada.     

Parliament,the Tories and Frederick,Prince of Wales*

The alliance between the tories and Frederick, Prince of Wales has usually appeared at best a passing interlude of opportunism in eighteenth‐century politics, dismissed alike by scholars upholding ‘jacobite’ or ‘Hanoverian’ constructions of the party's identity. This article offers a re‐examination of the relationship, assessing tory actions at Westminster against the larger hinterland of party literature and journalism. It argues that, especially after 1747, the association fronted a much more serious enterprise than is conventionally assumed, highlighting the continued political and ideological independence of the party into the 1750s and shaping the subsequent evolution of its identity. Intellectually, Frederick's image as a ‘Patriot King’ was driven by radical manifestos originating within the jacobite diaspora in Paris. Inside Westminster, his patronage changed the balance of power, bringing the tories to a point of primacy hitherto unmatched over the larger opposition. For four years, the promise of the prince of Wales provided the glue to hold the tory party together; his death threatened to unleash a process of fragmentation. The long‐term legacy of the alliance informed the direction of those who remained tories into the following decade, determining the section of the party that would gain the ascendancy within the reign of George III. By showing how a member of the ruling dynasty could be recast in a favourable and highly partisan political complexion, the pact with Frederick represented a decisive stage in the reinvention of English toryism, and its movement from mid‐century opposition towards rebirth as the loyalist champions of the house of Hanover.     

A Foot in Each Sphere: Christine Frederick and Early Twentieth-Century Advertising

The American advertiser has taught the American housewife to think constructively of her job.¹
Christine Frederick, 1929
As we enter the twenty-first century, Martha Stewart's web page proclaims her multi-million-dollar company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, to be a "leading creator of original'how to'content and related products for homemakers and other consumers."² Over the last 20 years, Stewart's enterprise, which targets primarily women consumers, has grown from a television show to an empire that includes books, magazines, radio broadcasts, a newspaper column, and Martha Stewart product lines sold in retail stores, through catalogs, and over the Internet.