LIBERTY STOCK. ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY AND UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF RHODE-ISLAND, PURSUANT TO RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT PROVIDENCE, SEPTEMBER 26, 1844. THIS SCRIP ENTITLES THE BEARER TO PAY TEN CENTS TO CANCEL A FINE IMPOSED BY THE SUPREME COURT OF SAID STATE OF MARTIN LUTHER... WHO WAS SENTENCED TO PAY A FINE OF FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS... FOR SERVING AS MODERATOR AT A TOWN MEETING UNDER THE PEOPLE'S CONSTITUTION APRIL 18, 1842; ALSO TO ENABLE SAID MARTIN LUTHER TO PROSECUTE HIS SUIT AT LAW, NOW PENDING BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, IN WHICH IS INVOLVED THE GREAT NATIONAL QUESTION WHETHER SAID CONSTITUTION ... WAS OR WAS NOT RIGHTFULLY ADOPTED. [SIGNED IN TYPE] WALTER R. DANFORTH, CHAIRMAN... PROVIDENCE, SEPT. 27, 1844

[Providence?, 1844. Small oblong printed certificate, 2.5" x 5.75". Printed on light stock. Clean. Fine.

An ephemeral document from the Dorr Rebellion, which began as a peaceful attempt to replace the archaic, undemocratic Rhode Island Charter with a written constitution broadening the suffrage. In 1842 frustrated Dorrites took up arms and were met by force.
For participating in the uprising, Martin Luther was arrested in 1842 by Luther Borden, a militiaman. Claiming that Borden acted without authority, Luther took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. He argued that the Dorr Constitution displaced the Charter because the Charter flunked the U.S. Constitution's Article Four, Section Four, which guarantees to every State "a Republican Form of Government." But in Luther v. Borden, 48 U.S. 1 [1849], Chief Justice Taney ducked the issue by calling it a 'political question,' and thus out of bounds for the Court to decide. (Inventory #: 26202)