Author: Indiana. Constitutional Convention (1850-1851)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Constitutional conventions
Languages : en
Pages : 1106

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Author: R. J. M. Blackett
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108311105
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 531

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This magisterial study, ten years in the making by one of the field's most distinguished historians, will be the first to explore the impact fugitive slaves had on the politics of the critical decade leading up to the Civil War. Through the close reading of diverse sources ranging from government documents to personal accounts, Richard J. M. Blackett traces the decisions of slaves to escape, the actions of those who assisted them, the many ways black communities responded to the capture of fugitive slaves, and how local laws either buttressed or undermined enforcement of the federal law. Every effort to enforce the law in northern communities produced levels of subversion that generated national debate so much so that, on the eve of secession, many in the South, looking back on the decade, could argue that the law had been effectively subverted by those individuals and states who assisted fleeing slaves.

Author: Francis Newton Thorpe
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 552

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Author: Indiana. Constitutional Convention
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Constitutional conventions
Languages : en
Pages : 1014

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Author: Francis Newton Thorpe
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Constitutional history
Languages : en
Pages : 552

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Author: John J. Dinan
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700616896
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 447

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Book Description
For too long, the American constitutional tradition has been defined solely by the U.S. Constitution drafted in 1787. Yet constitutional debates at the state level open a window on how Americans, in different places and at different times, have chosen to govern themselves. From New Hampshire in 1776 to Louisiana in 1992, state constitutional conventions have served not only as instruments of democracy but also as forums for revising federal principles and institutions. In The American State Constitutional Tradition, John Dinan shows that state constitutions are much more than mere echoes of the federal document. The first comprehensive study of all 114 state constitutional conventions for which there are recorded debates, his book shows that state constitutional debates in many ways better reflect the accumulated wisdom of American constitution-makers than do the more traditional studies of the federal constitution. Wielding extraordinary command over a mass of historical detail, Dinan clarifies the alternatives considered by state constitution makers and the reasons for the adoption or rejection of various governing principles and institutions. Among other things, he shows that the states are nearly universal in their rejection of the rigid federal model of the constitutional amendment process, favoring more flexible procedures for constitutional change; they often grant citizens greater direct participation in law-making; they have debated and at times rejected the value of bicameralism; and they have altered the veto powers of both the executive and judicial branches. Dinan also shows that, while the Founders favored a minimalist design and focused exclusively on protecting individuals from government action, state constitution makers have often adopted more detailed constitutions, sometimes specifying positive rights that depend on government action for their enforcement. Moreover, unlike the federal constitution, state constitutions often contain provisions dedicated to the formation of citizen character, ranging from compulsory schooling to the regulation of gambling or liquor. By integrating state constitution making with the federal constitutional tradition, this path-breaking work widens and deepens our understanding of the principles by which we've chosen to govern ourselves.

Author: Rowland Berthoff
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 9780826211019
Category : Europe
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Berthoff (history, Washington U., St. Louis) argues that modern American society is distinctive from contemporary European thought by virtue of its middle class. Over the course of ten essays, the author develops the idea of an American middle-class who brought with them from Europe a set of social values that has acted as a template for middle-class values. These ideals of a balance between personal liberty and communal equality have inspired a peculiarly American reaction to the modern changes of industrialization, urbanization, and immigration, causing a reactive apprehension in the middle-class that they are, like their peasant and artisan ancestors, once again being dispossessed. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author: Stephen P. Halbrook
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1567507824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
Whether newly-freed slaves could be trusted to own firearms was in great dispute in 1866, and the ramifications of this issue reverberate in today's gun-control debate. This is the only comprehensive study ever published on the intent of the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment and of Reconstruction-era civil rights legislation to protect the right to keep and bear arms. Indeed, this is the most detailed study ever published about the intent of the Fourteenth Amendment to incorporate and to protect from state violation any of the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, even including free speech. Paradoxically, the Second Amendment is virtually the only Bill of Rights guarantee not recognized by the federal courts as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Through legislative and historical records generated during the Reconstruction epoch (1866-1876), Halbrook shows the intent of the Fourteenth Amendment and of civil rights legislation to guarantee full and equal rights to blacks, including the right to keep and bear arms.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Author: University of Wisconsin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 624

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