The Constitution and the Nation

The Constitution and the Nation
Author: Christopher Waldrep
Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers
Total Pages: 520
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN:

The rapid acceleration of industrialization and the transformation of market capitalism that followed the Civil War provided new opportunities for employment and wealth for many Americans. But these opportunities came at a cost: overcrowded and unsanitary housing, long work hours in dangerous conditions, and child labor in factories and mines. At the nineteenth century's end, Progressivism emerged as a national movement to redress the extreme imbalances in wealth and power that had come to characterize American life and to ameliorate some of the worst consequences of industrialization. The United States Supreme Court struggled with questions of preserving individual and property rights versus government regulation on behalf of the public interest. Following the stock market crash of 1929, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal greatly expanded the regulatory state and brought about a constitutional revolution. This volume assembles the era's most important Supreme Court decisions, treatises, articles, and speeches, documenting our nation's Constitutional history from the Gilded Age through World War II.

The Constitution and the Nation

The Constitution and the Nation
Author: Christopher Waldrep
Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers
Total Pages: 608
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN:

In 1937 the Supreme Court revolutionized American constitutionalism, sharply restricting the states' powers and expanding those of the national government. In following years the civil rights movement caused further change, challenging American life with its demands for equal rights under the Constitution and protection by the federal government. The Vietnam War expanded and then contracted presidential power. In 2001, attacks organized by followers of Osama bin Laden on American cities revived presidential power, leading to new challenges to America's constitutional heritage. This volume assembles the most important documents from American constitutional history from the depths of the Great Depression to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001. Through these important documents, American constitutional power can be seen surging and waning, but always responding to the drama of world events.

We the People

We the People
Author: Peter Spier
Publisher: Dragonfly Books
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2020-05-05
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0593128087

The US Constitution brought to life for young readers! In this visual celebration of the US Constitution and America's founding fathers, Caldecott Medalist Peter Spier tells the stirring American tale of how this most important document came to symbolize freedom, justice, equality, and hope for all citizens. This fact-filled volume includes: • An illustrated preamble to the Constitution, illuminating its signifcance from its birth through to modern times • The complete text of the Constitution • The fascinating history of the struggle to create and ratify the Constitution • A historical reproduction of the original document Full of illustrations that bring the Constitution to life, this is a must-have resource for every American classroom, library, and home. ★ “A joyful celebration of the people whose leaders created the Constitution.” —Booklist, starred review “A celebration of America’s diversity.” —Kirkus Reviews “Spier has created a tribute that can be appreciated in more than one sitting.” —Publishers Weekly

The Constitution of the United States of America

The Constitution of the United States of America
Author: Mark Tushnet
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2015-08-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1509901760

This is the second edition of Professor Tushnet's short critical introduction to the history and current meaning of the United States' Constitution. It is organised around wo themes: first, the US Constitution is old, short, and difficult to amend. Second, the Constitution creates a structure of political opportunities that allows political actors, icluding political parties, to pursue the preferred policy goals even to the point of altering the very structure of politics. Deploying these themes to examine the structure f the national government, federalism, judicial review, and individual rights, the book provides basic information about, and deeper insights into, the way he US constitutional system has developed and what it means today.

Prohibition, the Constitution, and States' Rights

Prohibition, the Constitution, and States' Rights
Author: Sean Beienburg
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2019-06-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 022663213X

Colorado’s legalization of marijuana spurred intense debate about the extent to which the Constitution preempts state-enacted laws and statutes. Colorado’s legal cannabis program generated a strange scenario in which many politicians, including many who freely invoke the Tenth Amendment, seemed to be attacking the progressive state for asserting states’ rights. Unusual as this may seem, this has happened before—in the early part of the twentieth century, as America concluded a decades-long struggle over the suppression of alcohol during Prohibition. Sean Beienburg recovers a largely forgotten constitutional debate, revealing how Prohibition became a battlefield on which skirmishes of American political development, including the debate over federalism and states’ rights, were fought. Beienburg focuses on the massive extension of federal authority involved in Prohibition and the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, describing the roles and reactions of not just Congress, the presidents, and the Supreme Court but political actors throughout the states, who jockeyed with one another to claim fidelity to the Tenth Amendment while reviling nationalism and nullification alike. The most comprehensive treatment of the constitutional debate over Prohibition to date, the book concludes with a discussion of the parallels and differences between Prohibition in the 1920s and debates about the legalization of marijuana today.

Fault Lines in the Constitution

Fault Lines in the Constitution
Author: Cynthia Levinson
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2017-09-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1682630242

Many of the political issues we struggle with today have their roots in the US Constitution. Husband-and-wife team Cynthia and Sanford Levinson take readers back to the creation of this historic document and discuss how contemporary problems were first introduced—then they offer possible solutions. Think Electoral College, gerrymandering, even the Senate. Many of us take these features in our system for granted. But they came about through haggling in an overheated room in 1787, and we’re still experiencing the ramifications. Each chapter in this timely and thoughtful exploration of the Constitution’s creation begins with a story—all but one of them true—that connects directly back to a section of the document that forms the basis of our society and government. From the award-winning team, Cynthia Levinson, children’s book author, and Sanford Levinson, constitutional law scholar, Fault Lines in the Constitution will encourage exploration and discussion from young and old readers alike.

The Constitution and the Nation

The Constitution and the Nation
Author: Christopher Waldrep
Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers
Total Pages: 564
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN:

The United States Constitution records the structure of America's public life and society, distributing power and outlining citizens' rights and privileges. Historians Christopher Waldrep and Lynne Curry's compilation of leading interpretive documents traces English and American constitutional thinking from its earliest roots in 1215, to the U.S. Supreme Court under the great chief justice John Marshall. These documents reveal the constitution as an idea, growing and evolving but always reflecting particular moments in history. This book records the drama of the young American nation searching for its identity.

Constitution for a Disunited Nation

Constitution for a Disunited Nation
Author: Gabor Attila Toth
Publisher: Central European University Press
Total Pages: 589
Release: 2012-12-20
Genre: Law
ISBN: 6155225184

More than two decades after the post-communist constitutional transition, Hungary got into the spotlight again. As a result of the 2010 elections, the governing majority gained two-thirds of the seats in parliament, which made constitutional revision exceptionally easy, bypassing extensive political and social deliberations. In April 2011, on the first anniversary of the 2010 election, a brand new constitution was promulgated, named the Fundamental Law. This collection is the most comprehensive account of the Fundamental Law and its underlying principles. The objective is to analyze this constitutional transition from the perspectives of comparative constitutional law, legal theory and political philosophy. The authors outline and analyze how the current constitutional changes are altering the basic structure of the Hungarian State. The key concepts of the theoretical inquiry are sociological and normative legitimacy, majoritarian and partnership approach to democracy, procedural and substantive elements of constitutionalism. Changes are also examined in the field of human rights, focusing on the principles of equality, dignity, and civil liberties.

Terrorism and the Constitution

Terrorism and the Constitution
Author: David Cole
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2010-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1458788199

Tracing the history of government intrusions on Constitutional rights in response to threats from abroad, Cole and Dempsey warn that a society in which civil liberties are sacrificed in the name of national security is in fact less secure than one in which they are upheld. A new chapter includes a discussion of domestic spying, preventive detention, the many court challenges to post-9/11 abuses, implementation of the PATRIOT ACT, and efforts to reestablish the checks and balances left behind in the rush to strengthen governmental powers.