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I am currently engaged in looking at the discursive formation of the
idea of "American Citizen" during the ratification process of the 14th and
15th Amendments. Not being particularly concerned with the outcomes, I
want to look at how the notion of American citizen was colored in public
dialogue. Any leads as to where I might find popular articles that woudl
articulate such positions? Also, do you think that looking at private v.
public correspondence might relieve the bias factor in some of the public
rhetoric at the time?
Anyway this is just a preliminary inquiry