The constitutional origins of the American civil war / Michael F. Conlin, Eastern Washington University.

9781108495271 (hardcover)
1108495273 (hardcover)
9781108459969 (paperback)
110845996X (paperback)

Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, 2019.

English

lvii, 291 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

KF4541 .C556 2019

973.7/11

In an incisive analysis of over two dozen clauses as well as several "unwritten" rules and practices, The Constitutional Origins of the American Civil War shows how the Constitution aggravated the sectional conflict over slavery to the point of civil war. Going beyond the fugitive slave clause, the three-fifths clause, and the international slave trade clause, Michael F. Conlin demonstrates that many more constitutional provisions and practices played a crucial role in the bloody conflict that claimed the lives of over 750,000 Americans. He also reveals that ordinary Americans in the mid-nineteenth century had a surprisingly sophisticated knowledge of the provisions and the methods of interpretation of the Constitution. Lastly, Conlin reminds us that many of the debates that divide Americans today were present in the 1850s: minority rights versus majority rule, original intent versus a living Constitution, state's rights versus federal supremacy, judicial activism versus legislative prerogative, seccession versus union, and counter-majoritarianism versus democracy.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-284) and index.

Cambridge historical studies in American law and society.

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