Talk:John Rock (abolitionist)

Disregard my prior comment, as I misread the meaning of the challenged statement. Charles Sumner was moving (supporting) the admission of John Rock before the Supreme Court in his capacity as a lawyer who was himself admitted to the practice before the Court, not (as I misread it) in his role as a United States Senator. The sentence is correct as it stands.NelsonLB (talk) 06:58, 13 September 2014 (UTC)

The article states that Charles Sumner, a United States Senator, made the motion to admit John Rock to practice before the Supreme Court. This cannot be correct, as it is the Supreme Court itself (and exclusively) which admits (or not) lawyers to practice before it. The Senate has nothing to do with that. NelsonLB (talk)

Accurate source?
I can't find any reference in the journal (given in the footnote) to the man or to the phrase "black is beautiful." Jk180 (talk) 00:32, 24 February 2008 (UTC)jk180

I couldn't find that reference either. Citation is completely wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.10.170.20 (talk) 00:34, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

a black biography
Why should this article call him an "african american", when he said "black is beautiful"? He was proud of being black. Black is not an insult or a bad word. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Issionadizhid (talk • contribs) 18:30, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

"destined to become..."
Sounds biased and un-encyclopedic. Thoughts? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.244.214.59 (talk) 18:35, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

Stewart?
I'm seeing lots of sources that show his middle name as "Swett". 

His Passport
According to United States passport, Rock applied for a U.S. passport to travel to Europe for his health, but Secretary of State Lewis Cass refused him one, as the United States Supreme Court had just declared in Dred Scott v. Sandford that a black man could not be a citizen of the United States. In spite of the 1856 law confining the authority to issue passports to the United States Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts issued Rock a passport describing him as a citizen of the commonwealth, and on the strength of this document he traveled to Europe. J S Ayer (talk) 00:54, 31 August 2017 (UTC)
 * What's your point? Dlabtot (talk) 03:42, 31 August 2017 (UTC)