Charles Faulkner Proscriptive Law

With the era of American Reconstruction in America during the mid to late 1800’s came a sense of opportunity and hope for its people. America was on the move as nation, railroads being built faster than ever and the freedmen looking to find their niche in society. Although in the beginning the government provided support for these new citizens, efforts toward reconstruction faded as the years passed. Those efforts faded to a point where they were all but nonexistent, and with the unwritten Compromise of 1877, what feeble efforts that were left of reconstruction were now all but dead. Politically, reconstruction failed to provide equality by pulling Federal troops from the South, allowing former Confederate officials and slave owners

Although the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Reconstruction brought great hope to America’s four million former slaves, the efforts of Congressional Reconstruction ultimately failed to establish equal rights for the freedmen because the racist mindset still dominated American society at the time and Democratic influence steadily overcame Republican control in Congress. Despite the Union’s victory, the end of the Civil War brought many significant national problems, including an economically and culturally devastated South and the protection of the freedmen. After a period of Reconstruction under Lincoln and then under Andrew Johnson, it was Congress’s turn to determine the path of Reconstruction. While the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation were large steps in the freedmen’s road to equality, it was never going to be that easy to attain true equality for all. The Southerners’ mindset was still fixated on the idea that freedmen were naturally inferior.

David O. Stewart, by profession, is a lawyer with a resume that includes everything from arguing appeals at the Supreme Court level to serving as a law court to the acclaimed Junior Powell. But in writing The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution (specifically, I read the First Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition May 2008, copyrighted in 2007), he uses that experience in law to prove himself a gifted storyteller. Two hundred sixty-four pages long, this United States history nonfiction book does indeed have the substance to engage the reader throughout. It has special features that include two appendices featuring the elector system and the actual constitution of 1787, author’s notes, suggested further reading, acknowledgments and an index (which escalate the total length of the book to three hundred forty-nine pages long).

Around 82 representatives and 19 senators came together and signed off on the Southern Manifesto in protest. The author’s make an argument that the Brown ruling was an abuse of judicial power that trespassed the states' rights to decide and uphold their own laws. Furthermore, the opposition attempt to establish their ground by stating that the founding fathers themselves gave us the constitution for a reason. No one man or group of men can be entrusted with that much power, which is why they established a system of checks and balances to limit the federal government over the states and the judiciary system. If one or many people hold this much power, then this will lead to a continued defamation of power; in other words a Scare towards the democracy written by the founding

The context of this book is well-organized in completing it goals, first chapter called, “Pandora’s Box” written by the author, gives disputes over slavery in the late 1810’s and fights over the admission of Missouri as a slave state. Leading to three other chapters titled, “The Wilmot Proviso,” “The Compromise of 1850,” and “The Kansas-Nebraska Act.” Holt provides a strong historical narrative linking all its chapters together and presenting several contrasting arguments making his theories available to a larger audience. One being, The Wilmot Proviso of 1846 (Holt, p. 19), which made the pro slavery (no free soil), originated with Northern Democrats. Embarrassing James Polk (President) after he broke his promise to annex all the Oregon

This Paper will examine the Impact of the 14th and 15th Amendment in America. These Amendments were known as reconstruction amendments, including the 13th amendment in the Unites States. Both amendments took a big role in America, and its people. This paper will also show the people that helped take these amendments into place and also the changes.

INTRODUCTION United States Supreme Court case Scott v. Sanford (1857), commonly known as the Dred Scott Case, is probably the most famous case of the nineteenth century (with the exception possibly of Marbury v. Madison). It is one of only four cases in U. S. history that has ever been overturned by a Constitutional amendment (overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments). It is also, along with Marbury, one of only two cases prior to the Civil War that declared a federal law unconstitutional. This case may have also been one of the most, if not the most, controversial case in American history, due simply to the fact that it dealt an explosive opinion on an issue already prepared to erupt - slavery. Thus, many scholars assert that the

The most politicized debate in American history has been the arguments made by the Federalists and the Antifederalists over the ideas and powers stated within the United States Constitution. A large number of authors who write about the debates between these two political groups present the ideas of the Federalist and Antifederalist as separate, opposing ideologies about how the U.S. Constitution should either stay the same for the sake of the country or be amended to grant border rights to the public and states. To begin a paper about how this assumption of the two factions always being at odds, first there should be an explanation about the Federalists’ and Antifederalists’ main arguments. The Virginia debate over ratification will be the used as the platform to present the details of their arguments. After those two main objectives are complete, the presentation of information found on the topics that the two parties had arguments between themselves over the true future of the Constitution, and that certain Federalists and Antifederalist shared certain ideas about the problems this Constitution could cause or solve for the United States. To conclude those ideas, a presentation of the political figures of this time period will be used to understand the similarities and differences between the parties. Towards the end of the paper, there will be an explanation of how the ideas of the two parties, mostly Antifederalists, have led to the creation of amendments added to the

Every effort the North made to pacify the South and/or to help the Blacks was blatantly rejected by the South. If the North declared one law, the South would find a loophole and thus the country was a mess of disunity and debate over Constitutional changes (?) (Doc. A and B). This tug-of-war is also anther reason for why no social changes resulted from constitutional changes from 1860 to 1877. Even if the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were wholeheartedly radical and revolutionary constitutional changes, social changes, never mind developments, were not in any way possible because of strong Southern resistance (Doc. G).

The first principle of government advanced by Jefferson and the Anti-Federalists before 1800 was the exploration and organization of Western Land set by the Land Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance of 1787, part of the Articles of Confederation. These laws held through the Jefferson presidency and were largely the basis of exploration in the future. The second was the Bill of Rights set forth in the Constitution. They guaranteed the natural rights of citizens in the first ten amendments. The were maintained through the presidency and although debated, are in tact today. The third principle are the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. They called for state’s rights and supported nullification, which meant that a state can nullify a law that the federal government passes. This did not become public policy mainly because of Federalist opposition. It was fought for in the Civil war, and today states have to obey federal law.

In offering alternative interpretations of the origins of the Constitution, the author accomplishes his secondary purpose, to make the reader challenge what they know about the framing of the Constitution. Holton details the rebellion of the “Unruly Americans” against the state and national governments, using Adonijah Mathews as an ultimate example of the “common man.” Mathews’ views are presented in order to contrast the views of James Madison, whom it seems the author

As a nation, America has experienced numerous political changes all through her lifetime. Pioneers have traveled every which way, every one of them having diverse goals and plans for what's to come. As history follows all the way through, however, most these "progressive developments" arrive at an end. One such development was Reconstruction. Remaking was a day and age in America comprising of numerous pioneers, objectives, and achievements. In spite of the fact that like everything throughout everyday life, it came to an end, the subsequent result has been marked both a win and a disappointment.

16.~ From Emancipation to Equality: Alexander Clark 's Stand for Civil Rights in Iowa, Stephen J. Frese (121.26 K)

The constitution details, “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state…and each senator shall have one vote.” This equal representation along with careful maintenance of regional balance in the Senate allowed for Southern states to retain their national veto over slavery. Lastly, the constitution’s allowance for the establishment of the Supreme Court that could, with a single decision, overturn years worth of legislation provided a monumental setback. In the court case Dred Scott v. Sandford, the court ruled that the federal government did not retain the power to prevent slavery in the territories. Although slavery was eventually abolished by the fourteenth amendment, the long struggle and numerous constitutional roadblocks demonstrate how a number of provisions within the constitution hindered the ability of the national government to efficiently overcome a national concern.

“The demolition of West Virginia had taken place with the approval of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the State Government, which drew their