Free in the world : American slavery and constitutional failure
"In this book, Brandon examines the breakdown of American constitutional order in the nineteenth century, paying special attention to slavery as an institution and as a subject of political rhetoric. He draws on historical narrative and constitutional theory to argue that the Constitution failed both because it denied to slaves and free blacks the means to participate in political life and because it could not reconcile the increasingly divergent constitutional cultures of North and South." "Brandon also develops a general typology of constitutional failure. He identifies several ways in which failure can occur, shows that failure in one area may signify success in another, and argues that the possibility of failure is built into the foundations of all constitutional regimes."--Jacket
Print Book, English, ©1998
Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., ©1998
xviii, 248 pages ; 25 cm
9780691015811, 0691015813
37115206
Preface Acknowledgments Chapter One Constitutionalism, History, and Constitutional Failure Chapter Two Foundings, Myths, and Constitutional Division Chapter Three Interpretive Authority and Constitutional Division, Part Chapter Four Interpretive Authority and Constitutional Division, Part Chapter Five Lincoln, Douglas, and the Illusion of Division Chapter Six Constitutional Autonomy, Discourse, and Failure Chapter Seven No Exit? Secession and Constitutionalism Chapter Eight Remaking America: Reconstruction and Constitutional Failure Epilogue Bibliography Index of Cases General Index