Forging the American Nation, 1787-1791 PDF Download

Author: Leonard W. Levy
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee
ISBN: 1461730287
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
For more than two hundred years a debate has raged between those who believe that jurists should follow the original intentions of the Founding Fathers and those who argue that the Constitution is a living document subject to interpretation by each succeeding generation. The controversy has flared anew in our own time as a facet of the battle between conservatives and liberals. In Original Intent and the Framers' Constitution, the distinguished constitutional scholar Leonard Levy cuts through the Gordian Knot of claim and counterclaim with an argument that is clear, logical, and compelling. Rejecting the views of both left and right, he evaluates the doctrine of "original intent" by examining the sources of constitutional law and landmark cases. Finally, he finds no evidence for grounding the law in original intent. Judicial activism—the constant reinterpretation of the Constitution—he sees as inevitable.

Author: Shlomo Slonim
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349951633
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
This book presents an original historical-legal analysis of the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Drawing upon James Madison’s own minutes of the 1787 Convention, it focuses on Madison’s crucial role in shaping a bill of rights that would both reserve the states’ powers and confirm the implied powers doctrine for the federal government. This comprehensive work is indispensable for understanding the origins of the federal system of government and its impact on later developments in the United States.

Author: Herbert Alan Johnson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780700617340
Category : Inland navigation
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
Chronicles one of the most famous and frequently-cited cases of the early Supreme Court. Shows its impact on both commerce in the Early Republic and the understanding and growth of federal power during the past 200 years.

Author: Leonard Williams Levy
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 9780195049022
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
"For nearly two centuries, scholars have argued over the framing of the U.S. Constitution. Were its framers enlightened, disinterested statesmen seeking to rescue a nation drifting toward anarchy, or were they conspiratorial representatives of a rising financial and industrial capitalism? Some believed that the political conflict surrounding the creation of the Constitution was fought between men of nationalist principles and advocates of states' rights; others upheld that it was a clash between an aristocratic elite and the localist forces of democratic majoritarianism. This highly-acclaimed collection of essays, edited by eminent constitutional historian Leonard W. Levy, brings together a wide range of viewpoints on the roles, motivations, and aspirations of the Founding Fathers of the Constitution. With an expanded introduction and a new concluding chapter on the Bill of Rights by the editor, the second edition includes Charles Beard's historic Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, as well as the contemporary scholarship of Forrest McDonald, Robert E. Brown, and John P. Roche, among others. This anthology offers new interpretations of the driving forces of the men who forged the principal document of the American legal system"--Unedited summary from book cover.

Author: John R. Pottenger
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 1589014049
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
As early as the sixteenth century the liberal democratic state has been forced to confront the question of religion in politics. The result has been a tense and uncomfortable balancing act. Today, in the public square of liberal democracy, a number of religious confessions and beliefs compete for attention. In the American experience, some sense of religious pluralism and relative social harmony has been maintained. However, for this relationship to prevail, a tension must continue to exist—one that balances the political and social pursuits of self-interest with meeting the objectives of the common good. In Reaping the Whirlwind, John R. Pottenger shows how this process began in the modern world, and how societies attempt to manage this ongoing conflict. The first part of the book lays the groundwork of his analysis by using examples from history to demonstrate the genesis of political and religious "whirlwinds." It goes on to explore contemporary case studies, such as conflicts between Mormons and Evangelicals in the United States, liberation theology in Latin America, Islam and the state in Uzbekistan, and radical Christian reconstructionism. Pottenger believes that the formal institutions of liberal democracy should maintain this turbulence, even as religious activism threatens to upset the balance. He concludes by advocating religious liberty and recognizing the individual and social need for expression. At the same time, he maintains that the survival of liberal democracy requires that these religious traditions not dominate the public sphere.

Author: Leonard W. Levy
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 9781412833820
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 462

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Book Description
Leonard Levy's new book, a compendium of his law review articles, book chapters, and basic shorter writings on themes with which he has long been identified, is a treasure chest of sound and reasonable analysis of American constitutional history. As one reviewer of the manuscript put matters: "There is not a clinker amongst them." For anyone who thinks that liberal analysis has grown soft and flabby, a good dose of Levy's book should set the record straight. Seasoned Judgments is divided into three parts: Rights, Constitutional History, and The Marshall Court. In this progression from the general to the concrete, Levy never ignores the context as well as the content of the judicial process. Indeed, it is this linkage that separates him from nearly all other commentators and writers on the subjects covered. Whether discussing why the original Constitution lacked a Bill or Rights, or why the Fourth Amendment uses the imperative form "shall not" rather than the conditional form "ought not," the reader enters a world of explanation rich in detail and carful scholarly elaboration. Well-known as editor in chief of the multivolumed Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, this new volume extracts some of Levy's own contributions to that effort. As a result, one can, for the first time, gain a clear sense of the author's own profound sense of the major issues confronting American law from the founding fathers to the present. The analysis of such still unresolved issues as flag desecration, the exclusionary rule, testimonial compulsion, taxation without representation, and the nature of the Constitution itself, will be of tremendous appeal to historians and political scientists as well as attorneys and judges.

Author: Jethro K. Lieberman
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520340655
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 810

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Book Description
This is the most comprehensive and readable one-volume reference book in print, accessible to lay readers and specialists alike, on the meaning of the American Constitution as the Supreme Court has interpreted it. It is an indispensable tool for students and lay persons who want to understand today's constitutional controversies and their background in our history. It is equally useful to lawyers and other specialists who seek quick reviews of constitutional issues with immediate reference to cases for further research. Unlike conventional treatises that discuss the Constitution clause by clause or under a few broad concepts, this book uniquely treats every aspect of the Constitution and every constitutional topic in alphabetical order, in more than 1,000 short essays. It is extensively cross-referenced and exhaustively indexed, so that even a reader with only a minimal notion of the Constitution or constitutional law can quickly find clear answers to questions about pressing issues of the day. Among the other unique features: a set of introductory essays on the background of the Constitution and the many difficulties of interpreting it; a concordance to each word and phrase in the Constitution; a year-by-year chronology of justices who have served on the Supreme Court; and a table of the more than 2,650 Supreme Court cases from 1792 to the present referred to in the book, listing the vote, the author of the majority opinion, the concurring and dissenting justices, and the length of the opinions.

Author: Lawrence Friedman
Publisher:
ISBN: 019977868X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
In The Massachusetts State Constitution, Lawrence Friedman and Lynnea Thody present a comprehensive and accessible survey of Massachusetts constitutional history and constitutional law. The Massachusetts Constitution is the oldest state constitution and has remained essentially unchanged since it was drafted in 1780. It served as a model for the United States Constitution and many of the state constitutions that followed. The Massachusetts State Constitution provides an outstanding constitutional and historical account of the state's governing charter. It begins with an overview of Massachusetts's constitutional history, and then provides an in-depth, section-by-section analysis of the entire constitution, detailing important changes that have been made since its drafting. This treatment, which includes a list of cases, index, and bibliography, makes this guide indispensable for students, scholars, and practitioners of the Massachusetts constitution. The Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States is an important series that reflects a renewed international interest in constitutional history and provides expert insight into each of the 50 state constitutions. Each volume in this innovative series contains a historical overview of the state's constitutional development, a section-by-section analysis of its current constitution, and a comprehensive guide to further research. Under the expert editorship of Professor G. Alan Tarr, Director of the Center on State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University, this series provides essential reference tools for understanding state constitutional law. Books in the series can be purchased individually or as part of a complete set, giving readers unmatched access to these important political documents.

Author: Joseph Parent
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199782202
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
What causes states to politically unify voluntarily? This book develops a realist explanation of voluntary union and argues that unions are the balancing coalitions of last resort. Five cases test the logic of the argument: the United States, Switzerland, Sweden-Norway, Gran Colombia, and Europe.

Author: Andrew Arato
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107126797
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 483

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Book Description
This book explores the democratic methods by which political communities make their basic law, and the dangers associated with constitution-making.