The Reign of Felicity

Spence's Indian token 'If rents I once consent to pay, my liberty is passed away'

The Reign of Felicity is a dialogue between a Courtier, Esquire and Farmer, with the Farmer taking Spence's part in proposing Spence's Plan to the Indians of North America.

The pretext for the dialogue is Washington's 8th State of the Union Address, which talked of drawing the Indians 'nearer to the civilized state', and lamented the refusal of the Creek nation to sell land to the US government. In fact, the dialogue is largely a short estatement of Spence's Plan. Spence had discussed the relevance of the plan to native peoples in the Marine Republic and elsewhere.

The image of the Indian on the associated token is taken from a Massachussets halfpenny.

The appended speech On the Liberty of the Press is an implied condemnation of the British government's censorship of the press and Spence's own repeated arrests as a publisher, but also suggests Spence's position on Robespierre and the Jacobins.