About this Book

1. Interpreting American constitutional history. The Constitution and the protection of private property / Jennifer Nedelsky ; The Supreme Court as a unifying force in American culture / John E. Semonche ; Popular Constitutionalism / Larry D. Kramer ; Gender and American citizenship / Linda K. Kerber -- 2. Creating the American republic. Political theorist John Locke describes the ends of political society and government, 1690 ; American colonists declare their independence, 1776 ; The American colonies form a confederation, 1777 ; Convention delegate Edmund Randolph proposes the Virginia Plan, May 29, 1787 ; William Paterson proposes the New Jersey Plan, June 15, 1787 ; Delegates debate the creation of a national legislature, May-June, 1787 ; Delegates debate slavery and representation, June-July, 1787 ; Delegate James Madison advocates an extended republic, 1788 ; Slavery and the debate over representation / Paul Finkelman ; The power of ideas in the Convention / Forrest McDonald ; Representation of women in the Constitution / Jan Lewis -- 3. Rights in the new republic. Virginian James Madison champions religious liberty, 1785 ; Anti-Federalist George Mason outlines his objections to the proposed Constitution, 1787 ; Madison advocates a Bill of Rights, 1789 ; The Sedition Act limits criticism of the national government, 1798 ; The Virginia and Kentucky resolutions decry the abuse of national power, 1798-1799 ; Lyon's case, 1798 ; The Anti-Federalists and American liberty / Saul Cornell ; The Republicans and the transformation of libertarian thought / Leonard W. Levy -- 4. The departmental theory and the establishment of judicial review. Federalist Alexander Hamilton defends judicial review, 1788 ; Kamper v. Hawkins, 1793 ; Republican John Breckenridge advocates the repeal of the Federalists' Judiciary Act, 1802 ; Marbury v. Madison, 1803 ; Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 1816 ; McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819 ; President Andrew Jackson defies the Supreme Court and vetoes the bank bill, 1832 ; Marshall, Marbury, and the defense of judicial review / Larry D. Kramer ; Judicial review and the law of the Constitution / Sylvia Snowiss ; Spencer Roane, judicial power, and state sovereignty / Timothy S. Huebner -- 5. Andrew Jackson, nullification, and Indian removal. South Carolinian John C. Calhoun proposes nullification, 1828 ; President Andrew Jackson advocates Indian removal, 1829 ; Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 1831 ; Worcester v. Georgia, 1832 ; South Carolina nullifies the tariff, 1832 ; Jackson threatens South Carolina, 1832 ; Worcester and the politics of the nullification crisis / Jill Norgren ; Jackson, Worcester, and generational change / Gerard N. Magliocca -- 6. Abraham Lincoln, slavery, and the Civil War. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass describes the Constitution as anti-slavery, 1852 ; Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857 ; The Confederacy writes a constitution, 1861 ; President Abraham Lincoln rejects secession and criticizes the Supreme Court, 1861 ; Ex parte Merryman, 1861 ; Lincoln emancipates slaves in the Confederacy, 1863 ; Lincoln defends his suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, 1863 ; Lincoln's mixed record on individual rights / Daniel Farber ; Abraham Lincoln and the transformation of American liberty / James M. McPherson -- 7. Reconstruction and the Fourteenth Amendment. Congress debates the Fourteenth Amendment, 1866 ; The slaughterhouse cases, 1873 ; Bradwell v. Illinois, 1873 ; Minor v. Happersett, 1875 ; The civil rights cases, 1883 ; Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 ; Reconstruction and the birth of the Bill of Rights / Akhil Reed Amar ; The conservative basis of radical reconstruction / Michael Les Benedict ; The Supreme Court's denial of the rights of women / Joan Hoff -- 8. Protective legislation and the liberty to contract. Legal scholar Christopher G. Tiedeman advocates a limited police power, 1886 ; The People's Party announces its agenda for reform, 1896 ; Lochner v. New York, 1905 ; Reformers Louis D. Bra