Constitutionalism in the Approach and Aftermath of the Civil War: (The North's Civil War)

The irreducibly constitutional nature of the Civil War's prelude and legacy is the focus of this absorbing collection of nine essays by a diversity of political theorists and historians. The contributors examine key constitutional developments leading up to the war, the crucial role of Abraham Lincoln's statesmanship, and how the constitutional aspects of the war and Reconstruction endured in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This thoughtful, informative volume covers a wide range of topics: from George Washington's conception of the Union and his fears for its future to Martin Van Buren's state-centered, anti-secessionist federalism; from Lincoln's approach to citizenship for African Americans to Woodrow Wilson's attempt to appropriate Lincoln for the goals of Progressivism. Each essay zeroes in on the constitutional causes or consequences of the war and emphasizes how constitutional principles shape political activity. Accordingly, important figures, disputes, and judicial decisions are placed within the broader context of the constitutional system to explain how ideas and institutions, independently and in dialogue with the courts, have oriented political action and shaped events over time.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Paul D. Moreno and Johnathan O'Neill Prologue: A Second American Revolution? George Washington and the Origins of the Civil War Jeffry H. Morrison Part I Constitutionalism Endangered: The Road to Civil War 1 Martin Van Buren as Statesman:State Rights and the Rise of the "Free Soil" Party Christian Esh 2 Lincoln on Black Citizenship Joseph R. Fornieri 3 Lincoln, Secession, and Revolution: The Civil War Challenge to the Founding Herman Belz Part II Legal Change and Constitutional Politics in Reconstruction and the Gilded Age 4 The Trial of Jeff erson Davis and the Americanization of Treason Law Jonathan W. White 5 At Every Fireside: Constitutional Politics in the Era of Reconstruction Michael Les Benedict 6 "The Legitimate Object of Government": Constitutional Problems of Civil War-Era Republican Policy Paul D. Moreno Part III Contesting the Legacy of Lincoln and the Civil War in the Progressive Era 7 Woodrow Wilson and the Meaning of the Lincoln Legacy Ronald J. Pestritto 8 The Idea of Constitutional Conservatism in the Early Twentieth Century Johnathan O'Neill Notes List of Contributors Index

About the Author :
Paul D. Moreno is the William and Berniece Grewcock Chair in the American Constitution and is the Dean of Faculty at Hillsdale College. He is the author of From Direct Actionto Affirmative Action: Fair Employment Law and Policy in America, and Black Americans and Organized Labor: A New History, both published by Louisiana State University Press. He has written A Concise History of the American Constitution for the National Association of Scholars. He completed his PhD under the direction of Herman Belz at the University of Maryland in 1994. Johnathan O'Neill is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History at Georgia Southern University. He is the author of Originalism in American Law and Politics: A Constitutional History (2005) and co-editor (with Gary L. McDowell) of a multiauthor essay collection, America and Enlightenment Constitutionalism (2006). His articles have appeared in the Review of Politics, the Modern Law Review, and the Northwestern University Law Review. His current research is on "Constitutionalism and American Conservatism in the Twentieth Century," and articles related to this project have been published in the Journal of Church and State, Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice, and The European Legacy: Toward New Paradigms. He completed his PhD under the direction of Herman Belz at the University of Maryland in 2000.

Review :
"This important book doesn't consider the Civil War in isolation, but links up the war with the great constitutional questions of the Revolution and the Progressive Era. It is a valuable and original contribution to the field of legal history and American history more broadly." Daniel W. Hamilton, University of Illinois College of Law