Description
Book SynopsisThis concise, accessible text provides students with a history of American constitutional development in the context of political, economic, and social change. Constitutional historian Michael Benedict stresses the role that the American people have played over time in defining the powers of government and the rights of individuals and minorities. He covers important trends and events in U.S. constitutional history, encompassing key Supreme Court and lower-court cases. The volume begins by discussing the English and colonial origins of American constitutionalism. Following an analysis of the American Revolution's meaning to constitutional history, the text traces the Constitution's evolution from the Early Republic to the present day. This fourth edition is updated to include the 2016 election, the Trump administration, the 2020 election, and the first activities of the Biden administration.
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction: The American Constitution and American Constitutional History
- English Origins of American Constitutionalism
- Colonial Origins of American Constitutionalism
- The American Revolution
- Establishing New State and Federal Constitutions
- Constitutional Issues in the Early Republic
- Judicial Review, Nationalism, and State Sovereignty
- Andrew Jackson, Democracy, and “State Rights”
- Slavery and the Constitution
- The Constitution and the Civil War
- Reconstruction and the Constitution
- The Industrial State, Victorian Moralism, Laissez-Faire Constitutionalism, and State Rights
- The Progressive Era
- Liberal versus Conservative Constitutionalism in the 1920s
- The New Deal and the Constitution
- Liberal Constitutionalism
- Liberal Constitutionalism and Equality
- Curbing Presidential Power
- The Revival of Conservative Constitutionalism
- The Supreme Court and Conservative Constitutionalism
- The Erosion of Constitutional Comity
- The Conservative Court, the Constitution and Judicial Supremacy
- Presidentialism and the Security State
- Constitution Wars
NEW CHAPTER 24: Constitutional Crisis
Appendix A Articles of Confederation
Appendix B Constitution of the United States
Appendix C Justices of the United States Supreme Court
Appendix D Tables of Cases
Index
