A March of Liberty A Constitutional History of the United States Volume I: From the Founding to 1890

by Urofsky, Melvin I.; Finkelman, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780195126358
• ISBN10: 0195126351
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-08-16
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

A March of Liberty: A Constitutional History of the United States, 2/e, is a clearly written, comprehensive overview of American constitutional development. Covering the country's history from the founding of the English colonies up through the latest decisions of the Supreme Court, this two-volume work presents the most complete discussion of American constitutional history currently available. Reflecting the latest in contemporary scholarship, the authors successfully blend cases and court doctrines into the larger fabric of American political, economic, and social history. They discuss in detail the great cases handed down by the Supreme Court, showing how these cases played out in society and how constitutional growth parallels changes in American culture. In addition, this two-volume set examines lesser-known decisions that played important roles in affecting change, and also contains in-depth analyses of the intellects and personalities of the Supreme Court justices who made these influential decisions. This second edition of A March of Liberty addresses recent scholarship on race and gender, covers both constitutional and legal history, and examines federal, state, and private law. The text exemplifies the current trends in American constitutional history through its holistic approach of integrating the decisions of the state and lower federal courts with the decisions of the Supreme Court. Volume II addresses Reconstruction to the present and covers key issues including police power, criminal law, income tax, child labor, desegregation, school prayer, and foreign policy. It also examines control over issuing legal tender and control of and limits on conducting commerce. A March of Liberty, 2/e, features useful supplemental materials including the text of the Constitution, a chronological list of Supreme Court justices, and suggested further readings. Gracefully written and clearly explained, this popular two-volume set is indispensable for courses in American constitutional history and law.

Author Biography

Melvin Urofsky is Professor of History and Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Paul Finkelman is Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
From The Old World To The New	1	(16)
Magna Carta and the Rule of Law	1	(3)
The Common Law Enthroned	4	(1)
Organizing for Settlement	4	(3)
The Merchant Colonies: Virginia and Massachusetts	7	(3)
The Compact Colonies	10	(1)
The Proprietary Colonies	11	(1)
Growth of Legislative Dominance	12	(1)
The English Revolutions and the Dominion of New England	13	(2)
For Further Reading	15	(2)
Law in Colonial America	17	(22)
Settler and Indian Views of Land	18	(1)
Simplifying Property Law	19	(2)
Personal Status: Women	21	(2)
Personal Status: Laborers	23	(1)
Personal Status: Slaves	24	(2)
Religion	26	(3)
Criminal Law	29	(1)
Lawyers and Practice	30	(2)
The Privy Council and Imperial Courts	32	(2)
Witchcraft and Press Freedom	34	(3)
For Further Reading	37	(2)
The Road to Independence	39	(22)
The Mercantile System	39	(2)
Colonial Governments	41	(2)
Writs of Assistance	43	(1)
The Parsons Cause and the Two Penny Act	44	(1)
Colonial Constitutional Thought	45	(2)
Republican Ideology	47	(1)
The British View	48	(1)
The Stamp Act and the Colonial Response	49	(2)
The Townshend Duties	51	(2)
Tea and the Coercive Acts	53	(1)
The First Continental Congress	54	(2)
Parting of the Ways	56	(1)
The Declaration of Independence	57	(1)
Conclusion	58	(1)
For Further Reading	59	(2)
The Revolutionary Era	61	(19)
Congress Governs	61	(2)
The Articles of Confederation	63	(2)
New State Governments	65	(3)
Conservatives and Radicals	68	(1)
State Constitutions	69	(2)
Religious Freedom	71	(2)
Slavery	73	(1)
Judicial Review and the Success and Failure of State Constitutions in the Revolutionary Era	74	(1)
The Common Law Survives	74	(1)
Blackstone's Influence	75	(2)
Conclusion	77	(1)
For Further Reading	77	(3)
The Crisis of Confederation	80	(13)
Defects of the Articles	81	(2)
A Government Without Energy	83	(3)
Western Land Policy	86	(1)
Northwest Ordinance	87	(1)
Shays's Rebellion	88	(2)
Madison and the Annapolis Convention	90	(1)
Toward the Philadelphia Convention	91	(1)
For Further Reading	91	(2)
A More Perfect Union	93	(27)
The Philadelphia Convention	94	(2)
Representation and the Structure of Government	96	(2)
Slavery and Representation	98	(2)
The Executive Branch	100	(1)
The Judicial Branch	101	(1)
The Powers of the New Government	102	(1)
Regulating Commerce	103	(2)
Concluding the Convention	105	(1)
The Constitution and Federalism	106	(2)
Checks and Balances	108	(1)
The Debate Over Ratification	109	(4)
Federalists and Antifederalists	113	(2)
Ratification	115	(1)
Conclusion: The Constitution and Democracy	116	(1)
For Further Reading	117	(3)
Launching the Great Experiment	120	(27)
Washington Takes Office	120	(3)
The Bill of Rights	123	(5)
The Government Takes Shape	128	(1)
Raising a Revenue	128	(2)
Hamilton's Financial Program	130	(2)
The Bank of the United States	132	(1)
The Hamilton-Jefferson Debate	133	(2)
The Whiskey Rebellion	135	(1)
The Slave Trade and the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793	136	(2)
Defining Presidential Power	138	(1)
Presidential Conduct of Foreign Affairs	139	(1)
The Neutrality Proclamation	140	(2)
Jay's Treaty	142	(2)
Conclusion: Washington's Achievements	144	(1)
For Further Reading	144	(3)
The Supreme Court: The First Decade	147	(18)
The Federal Court of Appeals	147	(1)
The Judiciary Act of 1789	148	(2)
The Process Act	150	(1)
The Jay Court Convenes	151	(1)
Separation of Powers	152	(3)
Suing States in Federal Courts	155	(1)
Chisholm v. Georgia	156	(2)
The Eleventh Amendment	158	(1)
The Debt Cases	159	(1)
Judicial Review	160	(2)
The Ellsworth Tenure	162	(1)
Circuit Duties	162	(2)
Conclusion	164	(1)
For Further Reading	164	(1)
The Changing Face of the Law	165	(16)
Changes in the Common Law	165	(1)
Criminal Law	166	(3)
Property	169	(1)
Land and Water Usage	170	(2)
Contract	172	(2)
Procedure	174	(2)
Bench and Bar	176	(1)
Legal Literature	177	(2)
Lower Federal Courts	179	(1)
For Further Reading	180	(1)
Adams, Jefferson, and the Courts	181	(26)
The Alien and Sedition Acts	181	(3)
The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions	184	(1)
The Election of 1800	185	(1)
The Judiciary Act of 1801	186	(1)
John Marshall and the Midnight Judges	187	(1)
Jefferson Takes Office	188	(1)
Repeal of the Judiciary Act	189	(2)
Marbury v. Madison	191	(5)
The Louisiana Purchase	196	(1)
Republican Attacks on the Judiciary: The First Cases	197	(2)
The Impeachment of Justice Chase	199	(2)
Defining Treason	201	(2)
The Burr Trial	203	(1)
Presidential Privilege	204	(1)
For Further Reading	205	(2)
The Marshall Court and National Power	207	(22)
The Attorney General	207	(1)
Changes on the Court	208	(1)
The Embargo Cases	209	(2)
United States v. Peters	211	(1)
The Hartford Convention	212	(1)
The Court and Nationalist Sentiment	213	(2)
Martin v. Hunter's Lessee	215	(2)
Madison's Proposals	217	(1)
The Second Bank of the United States in Court	218	(4)
Cohens v. Virginia	222	(1)
The Steamboat Case	223	(3)
Conclusion: The Marshall Court's Legacy	226	(1)
For Further Reading	227	(2)
The Marshall Court and Economic Development	229	(19)
Law and Economic Development	229	(3)
Fletcher v. Peck	232	(3)
Public Land Cases	235	(3)
The Emergence of the Corporation	238	(1)
Defining Corporate Rights	239	(2)
The Dartmouth College Case	241	(3)
Bankruptcy	244	(2)
Conclusion: The Marshall Court's Legacy	246	(1)
For Further Reading	247	(1)
A Law Made for the Times	248	(23)
Debate over the Law	248	(1)
An American System	249	(1)
Legal Instrumentalism	250	(1)
Changing Views of Land	251	(1)
Water Usage	252	(3)
Taking of Land	255	(2)
Emergence of Tort Law	257	(2)
Master and Servant	259	(3)
Commercial Law	262	(1)
The Corporation	262	(1)
Sales	263	(1)
Negotiable Instruments	264	(2)
Contract	266	(2)
Conclusion	268	(1)
For Further Reading	269	(2)
Politics, Nationalism, and Competition	271	(25)
The ``Era of Good Feeling,''	271	(2)
Georgia, Jackson, and the Indians	273	(2)
Georgia, the Indians, and the Court	275	(1)
Calhoun Responds to the Tariff	276	(2)
The Webster-Hayne Debate	278	(1)
The Nullification Crisis	279	(3)
Internal Improvements	282	(1)
Jackson Versus the Bank	283	(4)
Monopoly and Economic Expansion	287	(1)
The Charles River Bridge Case Begins	288	(2)
The Last Years of the Marshall Court	290	(1)
Chief Justice Taney	290	(2)
The Charles River Bridge Case Is Decided	292	(1)
Conclusion: The New Departure	293	(1)
For Further Reading	294	(2)
Jacksonian Democracy	296	(24)
A Sense of Mastery	296	(2)
State Constitutional Development	298	(2)
Constitutional Flexibility	300	(1)
The Political Party and Its Function	301	(2)
Family Law	303	(1)
Women's Rights	304	(1)
Children and the Law	305	(2)
Early Labor Movements	307	(2)
Debtor Imprisonment	309	(2)
Pauper Relief	311	(2)
The New Prison	313	(1)
Code Revision	313	(3)
Race Relations and Antislavery	316	(2)
Conclusion	318	(1)
For Further Reading	318	(2)
The Taney Court: Change and Continuity	320	(17)
The New Chief Justice	320	(3)
The Court and Codification	323	(1)
Federal Common Law: Swift v. Tyson	324	(2)
The Police Power	326	(1)
Bank of Augusta v. Earle	327	(1)
The License and Passenger Cases	328	(2)
Defining State and Federal Powers	330	(1)
The Wheeling Bridge Case	331	(1)
The ``Political Question'' Doctrine	332	(1)
Dorr's Rebellion	333	(1)
Luther v. Borden	334	(1)
Conclusion: The Taney Court's Balance	335	(1)
For Further Reading	336	(1)
The Peculiar Laws of America's Peculiar Institution	337	(29)
Slavery in the New Nation	338	(2)
The Missouri Compromise	340	(3)
Black and White Opposition to Slavery: Slave Rebels and New Abolitionists	343	(1)
Abolitionist Theories and the Constitution	344	(2)
Abolitionist Use of the Law	346	(1)
Slaves in Transit	346	(2)
Antebellum Race Discrimination	348	(3)
Federal Fugitive Slave Laws	351	(1)
Prigg v. Pennsylvania	352	(2)
Law and Conscience	354	(1)
Southern Slave Codes	355	(2)
Controlling the Bondsmen	357	(2)
Slaves and Criminal Law	359	(2)
Manumission	361	(1)
Free Blacks	362	(1)
Conclusion	363	(1)
For Further Reading	364	(2)
A House Dividing	366	(35)
The Gag Rule	366	(2)
The Amistad Case	368	(3)
The Lone Star Republic	371	(1)
Annexing Texas	372	(1)
Constitutional Questions over Annexation	373	(1)
Presidential War Powers	374	(2)
The Wilmot Proviso	376	(1)
Free Labor and Free Soil	376	(2)
Calhoun's Southern Ideology	378	(1)
The Compromise of 1850	379	(2)
The Slave Trade in the Nation's Capital, California Statehood, and Slavery in the Territories	381	(1)
The Fugitive Slave Law	382	(2)
The Kansas-Nebraska Act	384	(1)
Obstructing the Fugitive Slave Act	385	(2)
``Bleeding Kansas,''	387	(1)
The Republican Party	388	(1)
Dred Scott's Case	389	(2)
The Self-Inflicted Wound	391	(2)
The Dred Scott Decision	393	(1)
The Aftermath	394	(1)
Kansas, Once Again	395	(1)
Ableman v. Booth	396	(2)
Conclusion	398	(1)
For Further Reading	399	(2)
The Union Sundered	401	(28)
The Election of 1860	402	(1)
Secession Winter	403	(2)
``And the War Came,''	405	(1)
The Provisional Confederate Constitution	406	(2)
The Permanent Confederate Constitution	408	(2)
Defects in the Confederate Scheme	410	(1)
The Political Party as a War Tool	411	(1)
Lincoln Takes Control	412	(2)
Ex Parte Merryman	414	(1)
Judicial Reorganization in Wartime	415	(2)
The Adequacy of the Constitution	417	(2)
War Powers and the Rebellion	419	(1)
Defining Rebel Status	420	(1)
The Growth of National Power	421	(2)
The Emancipation Proclamation	423	(3)
The Thirteenth Amendment	426	(1)
For Further Reading	427	(2)
The Union Unrestored	429	(22)
Problems of Military Occupation	429	(2)
Loyalty Oaths	431	(1)
Congress Takes a Hand	432	(1)
Expanding Federal Court Jurisdiction	432	(1)
Lincoln's 10 Percent Plan	433	(1)
The Wade-Davis Bill	434	(2)
Enter Andrew Johnson	436	(1)
Presidential Reconstruction	437	(2)
The Joint Committee on Reconstruction	439	(1)
Southern Intransigence	440	(1)
The Freedmen's Bureau Bills of 1866	441	(1)
The Civil Rights Act	442	(2)
The Fourteenth Amendment	444	(3)
The Congressional Plan	447	(1)
Conclusion	448	(1)
For Further Reading	449	(2)
Reconstruction	451	(28)
Governmental Deadlock	451	(2)
The Military Reconstruction Acts	453	(1)
The New State Governments	454	(1)
Southern Resistance	455	(2)
Restricting the Executive	457	(1)
Impeachment	458	(3)
The Senate Trial	461	(3)
The Meaning of Acquittal	464	(1)
Reconstruction in the Courts	465	(1)
Ex Parte Milligan	465	(2)
Testing Congressional Reconstruction Powers	467	(1)
McCardle and Yerger	468	(2)
Texas v. White	470	(1)
Changing the Size of the Court	471	(1)
The Legal Tender Cases	472	(2)
The End of Reconstruction	474	(1)
The Election of 1876	475	(1)
Conclusion: The Legacy of Reconstruction	476	(1)
For Further Reading	477	(2)
The Court and Civil Rights	479
The Abandonment of the Freedmen	480	(1)
The Civil Rights Cases	481	(1)
Jim Crow Enthroned	482	(3)
The Treatment of Native Americans	485	(2)
The Chinese Cases	487	(2)
The Insular Cases	489	(1)
The Incorporation Theory	490	(2)
Women and the Law	492	(2)
The Court Draws Limits	494	(1)
The Peonage Cases	495	(2)
A Few Small Steps	497	(1)
Conclusion	498	(1)
For Further Reading	498
APPENDIXES
The Declaration of Independence	A1
Articles of Confederation	A5
Constitution of the United States	A11
Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court	A28
Case Index	I1
Subject Index	I6