ABSTRACT
Charles Brockden Brown's emphasis on the "very disagreeable" emotions people, particularly young people, experience when they travel to unfamiliar places and meet unfamiliar faces is one he had recently explored in his two-part novel Arthur Mervyn. Judith Butler and Athena Athanasiou contend that being forced into a place in which one is "not the center," engenders a reaction that "gives rise to action and resistance". While the fundamental concepts of attachment treat place rootedness as an ideal model for emotional stability and personal contentment, some scholars are quick to point out the advantages associated with mobility, even when mobility is compulsory. From a historical perspective, forced exile and displacement were often common experiences for many marginalized groups in America. The United States' involvement in the period's rising global commercial network is greatly affected by the Haitian Revolution and the wealth that is realized from the exchange of racialized bodies tied to the Caribbean slave trade.
