Conscience and the Constitution : history, theory, and law of the Reconstruction amendments / David A.J. Richards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richards, David A. J., author.

Series:

Princeton Legacy Library

Princeton Legacy Library ; 277

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civil rights--United States--History.

Civil rights.

Abolitionists--United States.

Abolitionists.

Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877).

United States. Constitution--13th-15th Amendments.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (308 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1993]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

At stage center of the American drama, maintains David A. J. Richards, is the attempt to understand the implications of the Reconstruction Amendments--Amendments Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen to the United States Constitution. Richards evaluates previous efforts to interpret the amendments and then proposes his own view: together the amendments embodied a self-conscious rebirth of America's revolutionary, rights-based constitutionalism. Building on an approach to constitutional law developed in his Toleration and the Constitution and Foundations of American Constitutionalism, Richards links history, law, and political theory. In Conscience and the Constitution, this method leads from an analysis of the Reconstruction Amendments to a broad discussion of the American constitutional system as a whole.Richards's interpretation focuses on the abolitionists and their radical commitment to the "dissenting conscience." In his view, the Reconstruction Amendments expressed not only the constitutional arguments of a particular historical period but also a general political theory developed by the abolitionists, who restructured the American political community in terms of respect for universal human rights. He argues further that the amendments make a claim on our generation to keep faith with the vision of the "founders of 1865." In specific terms he points out what such allegiance would mean in the context of present-day constitutional issues.Originally published in 1993.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ONE. AIMS AND METHODOLOGIES

TWO. PROSLAVERY CONSTITUTIONALISM VERSUS THE THEORY OF UNION

THREE. THE ARGUMENT FOR TOLERATION IN AROLITIONIST MORAL, POLITICAL, AND CONSTITUTIONAL THOUGHT

FOUR. THE SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE RECONSTRUCTION AMENDMENTS

FIVE. A THEORY OF EQUAL PROTECTION

SIX. THE NATIONALIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

SEVEN. ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND THE CONSTITUTION

EIGHT. CONSCIENCE AND CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION

APPENDIX I. CONSTITUTION, STATUTES, AND LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

APPENDIX II. CASE LAW

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [263]-284) and index.

ISBN:

9780691630199

0691630194

9780691600246

0691600244

9781400863563

1400863562

OCLC:

884013083