Constitutionalism in the Approach and Aftermath of the Civil War

The irreducibly constitutional nature of the Civil War’s prelude and legacy is the focus of this absorbing collection of nine essays by a diversity of political theorists and historians. The contributors examine key constitutional developments leading up to the war, the crucial role of Abraham Lincoln’s statesmanship, and how the constitutional aspects of the war and Reconstruction endured in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This thoughtful, informative volume covers a wide range of topics: from George Washington’s conception of the Union and his fears for its future to Martin Van Buren’s state-centered, anti-secessionist federalism; from Lincoln’s approach to citizenship for African Americans to Woodrow Wilson’s attempt to appropriate Lincoln for the goals of Progressivism. Each essay zeroes in on the constitutional causes or consequences of the war and emphasizes how constitutional principles shape political activity. Accordingly, important figures, disputes, and judicial decisions are placed within the broader context of the constitutional system to explain how ideas and institutions, independently and in dialogue with the courts, have oriented political action and shaped events over time.

Paul D. Moreno is the William and Berniece Grewcock Chair in the American Constitution and is the Dean of Faculty at Hillsdale College. He is the author of From Direct Actionto Affirmative Action: Fair Employment Law and Policy in America, and Black Americans and Organized Labor: A New History, both published by Louisiana State University Press. He has written A Concise History of the American Constitution for the National Association of Scholars. He completed his PhD under the direction of Herman Belz at the University of Maryland in 1994.

Johnathan O’Neill is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History at Georgia Southern University. He is the author of Originalism in American Law and Politics: A Constitutional History (2005) and co-editor (with Gary L. McDowell) of a multiauthor essay collection, America and Enlightenment Constitutionalism (2006). His articles have appeared in the Review of Politics, the Modern Law Review, and the Northwestern University Law Review. His current research is on “Constitutionalism and American Conservatism in the Twentieth Century,” and articles related to this project have been published in the Journal of Church and State, Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice, and The European Legacy: Toward New Paradigms. He completed his PhD under the direction of Herman Belz at the University of Maryland in 2000.