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Joshua R Greenberg

@joshrgreenberg.bsky.social
4.3K followers 608 following 4.7K posts

Historian. Author: Bank Notes and Shinplasters: The Rage for Paper Money in the Early Republic. Editor: commonplace.online. joshuargreenberg.com

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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 8h
John Demos walks into an antique store is not the set up to an OAH joke, but is the beginning of a new piece up now on Commonplace. Demos investigates a fascinating image painted on a ceramic dish that leads him to 16th century cannibal discourse. Check it out: commonplace.online/article/dish...
commonplace.online
Dishing Up History - Commonplace
In order to understand the dish, I will have to find my way through much unfamiliar territory. It will be quite a journey, full of inquiry and fresh learning.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 5h
Received my first pitch for a Commonplace piece from an AI agent.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 8h
John Demos walks into an antique store is not the set up to an OAH joke, but is the beginning of a new piece up now on Commonplace. Demos investigates a fascinating image painted on a ceramic dish that leads him to 16th century cannibal discourse. Check it out: commonplace.online/article/dish...
commonplace.online
Dishing Up History - Commonplace
In order to understand the dish, I will have to find my way through much unfamiliar territory. It will be quite a journey, full of inquiry and fresh learning.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
What is the movie that came out before you were born that you’ve watched the most times? #HATM
static.klipy.com
No I'm Just Saying It's Possible - 12 Angry Men
ALT: No I'm Just Saying It's Possible - 12 Angry Men
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Up early this morning and walking out of house to my car I decided to turn to my right and look through bushes at my neighbor’s yard . . .
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Suuuuper interesting, I was not tracking this. The judge found the law criminalizing noncitizen voting is a voter qualification statute, and therefore outside of Congress’s power. Surprisingly, this is an issue of first impression! Decision is here: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
The best reading of the actual statute that underpins this criminal case yields an inescapable
conclusion: 18 U.S.C. S 611 is a voter qualification statute, and the Constitution does not authorize
Congress to legislate voter qualifications for federal elections. Except for very specific constitutional
provisions (that cannot support this statute; we will go through them, Congress has no power to say
who can vote or who cannot vote in federal elections-that foundational power is reserved for the States,
and limits Congress.
Some legal principles are so fundamental that they form American constitutional bedrock, and
this case reveals a big one: When you're prosecuted based on a law that Congress did not have the
authority to pass, the prosecution cannot stand. That principle in federal law harkens back to cases
like Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 180 (1803), and United States v. Hudson, 11 U.S. 32, 34 (1812), and
has had explicit and unbroken support in criminal cases since Ex Parte Siebold, 100 U.S. 371, 376-77
(1879) ("An unconstitutional law is void, and is as no law. An offence created by it is not a crime. A
conviction under it is not merely erroneous, but is illegal and void, and cannot be a legal cause of
imprisonment."). The principle is so fundamental that it even predates our constitutional republic; it
lies at the very heart of our constitutional heritage. See, e.g., Bayard v. Singleton, 1 N.C. 5, 9-10 (1787) (striking down a legislative act as unconstitutional and holding that a court cannot enforce an
unconstitutional law in any type of proceeding). This principle acts as a shield for every person facing
criminal prosecution in the United States, citizen and non-citizen alike. That shield protects the
Defendant here, and none of the Government's arguments break through it.
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Are you going to be at the For 2026: New Republic, New Worlds Conference at the OIEAHC on October 23-24? Do you have an idea for Commonplace piece that you want to pitch or just find out more about Commonplace? Do want fun swag? I will be there to chat, so please reach out to set up a meeting.
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Casey Schmitt @csschmitt.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Hey historians! Check out this incredible CFP and please share!🗃️ atlanticexchanges.wm.edu/home-2/2027-...
atlanticexchanges.wm.edu
2027 Workshop Call for Proposals - Atlantic Exchanges Workshop
Atlantic Exchanges 2027 Slavery and the Commercial Machinery of Empires The Atlantic Exchanges Workshop invites proposals for its second edition, […]
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Are you going to be at the For 2026: New Republic, New Worlds Conference at the OIEAHC on October 23-24? Do you have an idea for Commonplace piece that you want to pitch or just find out more about Commonplace? Do want fun swag? I will be there to chat, so please reach out to set up a meeting.
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Anya Jabour @herstoryprof.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Happy #LGBTQ+HistoryMonth! To kick things off, check out this fun piece about the “Perfect Little Ladies”—or lesbians?—in 19th century NY! Learn more in my new book, MATTERS OF SEX: KATHARINE BEMENT DAVIS AND AMERICA’S FIRST SEXUAL REVOLUTION (NYU, 2026)! womenshistorynetwork.org/no-men-need-...
womenshistorynetwork.org
“No men need apply”: How a Group of “Perfect Little Ladies” Challenged Gender Norms in Turn-of-the-Century New York – Anya Jabour
President Edith Joiner addresses the Perfects. Jan. 29, 1897. May Bragdon Diaries. Rare Books, Special Collections & Preservation, University of Rochester River Campus Libraries. In the …
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Going to see Sugar in concert tonight, so today's Civil War shinplaster comes from a Long Island merchant. It includes a steam ship vignette as well as a display of some of the shop's dry goods including West Indian sugar, molasses, oolong tea, and coffee. R. M. Bowne, Glen Cove, NY, $.10, 186-.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
As we end September, I am celebrating 15 years at Commonplace. I started as book review editor (when we had column editors) and became editor in 2019. I am so proud of the great articles that we continue to publish freely to the public. If you haven't checked it out, do so here: commonplace.online
commonplace.online
Commonplace
Save to PDF
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
OIEAHC (Omohundro Institute) @oieahc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
What did freedom mean at the end of the American Revolution? In “Two Roads to Freedom,” Melchior Baltazar follows William Lee and Harry Washington—two men enslaved by George Washington — whose lives reveal liberty as contested, constrained, and claimed: bit.ly/4xDnPQU #EarlyAmerica
CP Article: Two Roads to Freedom: William Lee, Harry Washington, and Living the Paradox of the American Revolution
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Bryan Waterman @waterman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Looking forward to this!
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Going to see Sugar in concert tonight, so today's Civil War shinplaster comes from a Long Island merchant. It includes a steam ship vignette as well as a display of some of the shop's dry goods including West Indian sugar, molasses, oolong tea, and coffee. R. M. Bowne, Glen Cove, NY, $.10, 186-.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Happy Birthday to Stan Berenstain, who with Jan wrote children's books about a bear family with a name that I mispronounced until I was about 35. To celebrate, here is a Civil War bank note with a little black bear on the bottom. North-western Bank of Virginia, Jeffersonville, VA, $1, Jan 1, 1862.
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It is National Coffee Day, so I am celebrating with this Civil War shinplaster from a coffee house worth 25 cents in refreshments. It features a vignette of a ship, a portrait of Franklin, and a pretty flattering one of late stage Winfield Scott. Franklin Coffee House, New York, NY, $.25, 1862-3.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It is National Coffee Day, so I am celebrating with this Civil War shinplaster from a coffee house worth 25 cents in refreshments. It features a vignette of a ship, a portrait of Franklin, and a pretty flattering one of late stage Winfield Scott. Franklin Coffee House, New York, NY, $.25, 1862-3.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Shouldn't a co-sponser of yesterday's very important Protect College Sports Act know the difference between a team from the University of Iowa and a professional NBA team from Georgia?
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Happy Birthday to Stan Berenstain, who with Jan wrote children's books about a bear family with a name that I mispronounced until I was about 35. To celebrate, here is a Civil War bank note with a little black bear on the bottom. North-western Bank of Virginia, Jeffersonville, VA, $1, Jan 1, 1862.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My bit would be guy trying to bring back the Loco Foco Party. No matter what they asked just turn the answer into a chance to use passionate anti-monopoly rhetoric updated for the 21st century.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Rod Torfulson’s Armada Featuring Herman Menderchuk and Trump
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Commonplace: the journal of early American life @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Enslaved men and women engaged with revolutionary ideas during a turbulent era, seizing the moment to imagine new paths to freedom. Discover more about this dynamic intersection of struggle and aspiration in Melchior Baltazar's "Two Roads to Freedom": bit.ly/4xDnPQU
commonplace.online
Two Roads to Freedom: William Lee, Harry Washington, and Living the Paradox of the American Revolution - Commonplace
Enslaved men and women encountered revolutionary rhetoric not as abstract theory but amid a crisis that destabilized authority and opened new possibilities for pursuing their own freedom.
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Rob Parkinson @rparkinson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Read this book! Thank me later.
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
On this date in 1793, George Washington and some other Freemasons in regalia laid the cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol. The building appears on this antebellum bank note showing what it looked like before an extensive expansion in the 1850s. Bank of the Union, Washington, DC, $1, Dec 16, 1851.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
On this date in 1793, George Washington and some other Freemasons in regalia laid the cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol. The building appears on this antebellum bank note showing what it looked like before an extensive expansion in the 1850s. Bank of the Union, Washington, DC, $1, Dec 16, 1851.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
It is Constitution Day, marking the 1787 ratification of the document in Independence Hall. This Civil War bank note calls back to the moment with a street scene vignette of the Hall next to one of Washington in a Revolutionary War camp scene. Bank of North America, Philadelphia, PA, Jan 8, 1862.
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
In an enlightening new piece in Commonplace, Melchior Baltazar looks at how the lived experience of the American Revolution differed for William Lee and Harry Washington, two men enslaved by George Washington who traveled very different paths. Check it out here: commonplace.online/article/two-...
commonplace.online
Two Roads to Freedom: William Lee, Harry Washington, and Living the Paradox of the American Revolution - Commonplace
Enslaved men and women encountered revolutionary rhetoric not as abstract theory but amid a crisis that destabilized authority and opened new possibilities for pursuing their own freedom.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Now the squirrels are just messing with me. Not only did they steal the pomegranate from my tree before I could pick it, they ate half and dropped the rest on the driveway.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
In an enlightening new piece in Commonplace, Melchior Baltazar looks at how the lived experience of the American Revolution differed for William Lee and Harry Washington, two men enslaved by George Washington who traveled very different paths. Check it out here: commonplace.online/article/two-...
commonplace.online
Two Roads to Freedom: William Lee, Harry Washington, and Living the Paradox of the American Revolution - Commonplace
Enslaved men and women encountered revolutionary rhetoric not as abstract theory but amid a crisis that destabilized authority and opened new possibilities for pursuing their own freedom.
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Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
John Harris @drjohnaeharris.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Kudos to Nick Radburn, Will Pettigrew and others for putting this together. Very important resource on the British slave trade.
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Dr Eva Johanna Holmberg @evajohannaholmberg.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Honoured to be chairing the Hakluyt Society essay prize committee for the second time, do consider submitting an essay and/or advertise to your PhD students/ECR colleagues. 🗃️ #earlymodern included!
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
When the rabbit hole you go down lands you in the world of 19th century patent medicine, you know your day as a historian is well spent.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
It is Labor Day, so check out this short piece from the back catalog of Commonplace on the history of the day and labor in America by the late Edward Gray, former editor of the journal. commonplace.online/article/labor-da…
commonplace.online
Labor Day in America: Or, the Day That is Not in May - Commonplace
America’s ambivalence about labor is nothing new. In the colonial era the ruling class had nothing but contempt for anything that could be justly called "work."
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The video is up of my JCB talk on Money and the American Revolution as part of The Revolution is News series. I managed to cut off the very left edge of several slides, but hopefully it is fun to hear about some cool monetary instruments (and a Spiderman joke). www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-Sm...
youtube.com
Joshua Greenberg on Money (Part of The Revolution Is News)
YouTube video by The John Carter Brown Library
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Dael Norwood @dael.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Re-upping for the afternoon crowd; come for the extended Beverly Hillbillies analogy, stay for the analysis of how the state's judiciary has gotten bent to the will of wilding out billionaires.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The video is up of my JCB talk on Money and the American Revolution as part of The Revolution is News series. I managed to cut off the very left edge of several slides, but hopefully it is fun to hear about some cool monetary instruments (and a Spiderman joke). www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-Sm...
youtube.com
Joshua Greenberg on Money (Part of The Revolution Is News)
YouTube video by The John Carter Brown Library
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
With news of Treasury releasing the Trump coin, I am reposting this from last year when it was first announced. It explains why this has not been allowed since 1866.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
With news of Treasury releasing the Trump coin, I am reposting this from last year when it was first announced. It explains why this has not been allowed since 1866.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
They are circulating a coin with an illegitimate image, which makes it less lawful than this legal shinplaster featuring a Peruvian 2 Reales coin from the reign of King Charles IV of Spain (which was legal tender before 1857). Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad Co., Urbana, OH, $.25, June 10, 1841.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Where did Phi Beta Kappa fit into early republic controversies about secret societies and public respectability? How did its founders navigate the moment? Adam Arenson explores the first 50 years of the organization in his new Commonplace article. Check it out: commonplace.online/article/secr...
commonplace.online
Secret Loyalty and Public Respectability: The Transformation of Phi Beta Kappa in its First Half-Century - Commonplace
Secrecy itself seemed at odds with republican values, and liable to shield corruption or treason.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Thinking about when the Post Office accidentally (not purposefully) confused the public during the Civil War. Postal Currency (receivable for stamps & exchangeable for Greenbacks) was issued by Treasury and meant to address small change shortages in 1862-3, but people confused it with actual stamps.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Thinking about when the Post Office accidentally (not purposefully) confused the public during the Civil War. Postal Currency (receivable for stamps & exchangeable for Greenbacks) was issued by Treasury and meant to address small change shortages in 1862-3, but people confused it with actual stamps.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Where did Phi Beta Kappa fit into early republic controversies about secret societies and public respectability? How did its founders navigate the moment? Adam Arenson explores the first 50 years of the organization in his new Commonplace article. Check it out: commonplace.online/article/secr...
commonplace.online
Secret Loyalty and Public Respectability: The Transformation of Phi Beta Kappa in its First Half-Century - Commonplace
Secrecy itself seemed at odds with republican values, and liable to shield corruption or treason.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Looking at the calendar and while I don't have a bank note to post, here is the song of the day: Noah Kahan - End of August. www.youtube.com/watch?v=acJ-...
youtube.com
End of August
YouTube video by Noah Kahan - Topic
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Gautham Rao (pronounced: Knicks in 5) @gauthamrao.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Come be my colleague! My department is searching for an assistant professor of the history of science. I am chairing the search and am happy to answer questions. Deadline is tomorrow! networks.h-net.org/jobs/70099/a...
networks.h-net.org
American University - Assistant Professor of History of Science, Technology, & Society | H-Net
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Lone Justice (U2) Afghan Whigs (Teenage Fanclub) Swervedriver (Soundgarden) Slowdive (Ride) Superchunk (Built to Spill) Quix*o*tic (Fugazi) Ray Condo and His Hard Rock Goners (Squirrel Nut Zippers) Man Man (Modest Mouse) Meg Lee Chin (My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult) Luna (The Sundays)
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Make your favorite film sound as boring as possible with giving away the title: A dozen men sit around a table and try to come to all come to agreement about something.
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OIEAHC (Omohundro Institute) @oieahc.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Individual rights are measured by whose labor, voice, and humanity the law recognizes. Diana Louis’ “Listening for Freemen” examines William Freeman’s demand for back pay: bit.ly/45WHWyd #IndividualRightsDay @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social @umichlsa.bsky.social
Text: Diana Louis, Listening for Freemen. Commonplace. Read Now.
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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Today is the birthday of John Lynch, the Quaker abolitionist and founder of Lynchburg, Virginia. This bank note from the town came in an odd denomination and features a lovely train vignette as well as a portrait of a dashing artisan. Merchants Bank of Virginia, Lynchburg, VA, $6, April 1, 1861.
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