The constitutional origins of the American civil war / Michael F. Conlin, Eastern Washington University.
2019
KF4541 .C556 2019 (Mapit)
Available at General Collection
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Details
Title
The constitutional origins of the American civil war / Michael F. Conlin, Eastern Washington University.
ISBN
9781108495271 (hardcover)
1108495273 (hardcover)
9781108459969 (paperback)
110845996X (paperback)
1108495273 (hardcover)
9781108459969 (paperback)
110845996X (paperback)
Published
Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, 2019.
Language
English
Description
lvii, 291 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Call Number
KF4541 .C556 2019
Dewey Decimal Classification
973.7/11
Summary
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.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-284) and index.
Series
Cambridge historical studies in American law and society.
Record Appears in
On-Campus Resources > Books
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Table of Contents
The original intent of the slaveholding founders
Two constitutional wrongs did not guarantee a constitutional right
The tyranny of the northern majority
The spirit of 1787
The constitutional right of secession
Epilogue : the founders' constitution no more.
Two constitutional wrongs did not guarantee a constitutional right
The tyranny of the northern majority
The spirit of 1787
The constitutional right of secession
Epilogue : the founders' constitution no more.