The Republic According to John Marshall Harlan

by Przybyszewski, Linda

• ISBN13: 9780807847893
• ISBN10: 0807847895
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-02-01
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan (1833@-1911) is best known for condemning racial segregation in his dissent from ###Plessy v. Ferguson# in 1896, when he declared, "Our Constitution is color-blind." But in other judicial decisions -- as well as in some areas of his life -- Harlan's actions directly contradicted the essence of his famous statement. Similarly, Harlan was called the people's judge for favoring income tax and antitrust laws, yet he also upheld doctrines that benefited large corporations.Examining these and other puzzles in Harlan's judicial career, Linda Przybyszewski draws on a rich array of previously neglected sources -- including the verbatim transcripts of his 1897@-98 lectures on constitutional law, his wife's 1915 memoirs, and a compilation of opinions, drawn up by Harlan himself, that he wanted republished. Her thoughtful examination demonstrates how Harlan inherited certain traditions; how he reshaped them in light of his experiences as a lawyer, political candidate, and judge; and how he justified the vision of the law he wrote.An innovative combination of personal and judicial biography, this book makes an insightful contribution to American constitutional and intellectual history.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(13)
The Best Type of Slave-holders: A Family Ethic of Paternalism	14	(30)
Little or No Scope for Originality: Law, Religion, and the Union	44	(29)
An Opportunity to Make a Record: The Judge's Role	73	(8)
Every True Man Has Pride of Race: Civil Rights, Social Rights, and Racial Identity	81	(37)
The Hopes of Freemen Everywhere: Anglo-Saxonism and the Spanish-American War	118	(29)
This Age of Money Getting: Constitutional Nationalism and Free Labor	147	(38)
You May Rightfully Aspire: Manhood and Success in the Republic	185	(18)
Conclusion	203	(6)
Appendix: Harlan's List of Opinions for Publication	209	(4)
Notes	213	(38)
Bibliography	251	(28)
Index	279