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Justice Harlan Stands Alone Again From the State-Action Barrier to State-Mandated Segregation I. From Federal Retreat to State Command The Civil Rights Cases of 1883 restricted the power of Congress to protect Black citizens against racial discrimination by private proprietors. Plessy v. Ferguson presented a different constitutional wrong. This time, racial separation was not merely …

PLESSY v. FERGUSON When “Separate but Equal” Became Constitutional Doctrine Read More »

When the Supreme Court Removed Equality from Ordinary Public Life Justice Harlan’s Lone Dissent and the Third Great Judicial Retreat ANNOTATED EDITION Reconstruction Enters Ordinary Public Life The Civil Rights Act of 1866 had established federal citizenship and enumerated essential civil rights. The Reconstruction Amendments then altered the Constitution, while the Enforcement Acts supplied federal …

THE CIVIL RIGHTS CASES — 1883 Read More »

When the Fourteenth Amendment’s Lock Was Narrowed from the Bench ANNOTATED EDITION Reconstruction Reaches the Supreme Court By 1873, the constitutional architecture of Reconstruction had largely been established. The Thirteenth Amendment had abolished slavery. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 had declared federal citizenship and enumerated civil rights. The Fourteenth Amendment had prohibited states from …

THE SLAUGHTER-HOUSE CASES: The First Great Judicial Narrowing of Reconstruction Read More »

The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments as a Constitutional Structure ANNOTATED EDITION The Constitution Permanently Changed The Civil War did not merely preserve the Union. It transformed the Constitution. Following military victory, Congress proposed, and the States ratified three constitutional amendments that permanently altered the legal and constitutional character of the American Republic.[1] Together, the …

THE RECONSTRUCTION TRIAD AMENDMENTS: Freedom, Citizenship, and Political Participation and Responsibility Read More »

The Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Anchorist Claim, and Executive Stewardship ANNOTATED EDITION The opposition spoke—and the official record identified the people. The Question of Identification Who were the “all persons born in the United States” whose citizenship Congress declared in the Civil Rights Act of 1866? The statute supplies the controlling language. Its …

The Mysterious “ALL PERSONS BORN…” REVEALED: Four Reluctant Witnesses Identify Reconstruction’s Human Subject Read More »

How Opposition to Federal Protection Revealed the Persons of Reconstruction The President objected. Congress answered. The official record identified the people.   Reconstruction Meets Executive Resistance The constitutional journey of Reconstruction met resistance from within the Federal Government itself. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated before he could administer the peace he had envisioned. Andrew Johnson inherited …

PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON: The Three Vetoes—One Identification Read More »

The Republic’s First Reconstruction Institution ANNOTATED EDITION I. Freedom Required a Federal Institution The Emancipation Proclamation declared freedom for enslaved persons in designated areas of rebellion, and the Thirteenth Amendment would subsequently abolish slavery throughout the United States.[1] Neither measure, however, could by itself resolve the immediate human consequences produced by centuries of American chattel …

THE FREEDMEN’S BUREAU From Emancipation to Federal Protection Read More »

I.  HOW TO READ THIS WORK: A Guide to the Reader II.     A NOTE TO THE READER: Why This Work Is Offered Now III.    The Confiscation Acts — 1861–1862 IV.     The Emancipation Proclamation — 1862–1863 V.       Abraham Lincoln’s Constitutional Charge — The Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address, 1863–1865 VI.   …

Directory: The Remedial, Federal Law Train Read More »

The Unfinished Work: From Gettysburg to the Second Inaugural The Constitutional Bridge from Sacrifice to a Just and Lasting Peace I. Two Speeches—One Continuing Charge Abraham Lincoln did not live to preside over the constitutional Reconstruction that followed the Civil War. He did not witness the ratification of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, or Fifteenth Amendments, nor …

ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S  CONSTITUTIONAL CHARGE Read More »

The Purpose, Method, Vocabulary, and Constitutional Boundaries of This Inquiry This work asks the reader to travel through history without confusing history with metaphor, law with aspiration, constitutional authority with moral urgency, or preventative warning with a proposed use of force. I. The Purpose of This Constitutional Inquiry This work is not intended to be …

HOW TO READ THIS WORK: A Guide to the Reader Read More »