The Constitutional Origins of the American Civil War

In The Constitutional Origins of the American Civil War Michael F. Conlin makes a powerful argument that “the provisions of the Constitution aggravated, shaped, and fueled the sectional conflict over slavery” (p. 122). A particular strength of the book is its evidentiary basis. Conlin demonstrates that many ordinary Americans knew the Constitution in great detail. He succeeds in defending the claim that “popular constitutionalism” was real (p. xxv). Because modern readers will not be as familiar with the constitutional details, he helpfully provides a lengthy glossary of terms. The book will become an invaluable reference for understanding where and when antebellum Americans disagreed over competing interpretations of the founding text. The book emphasizes the specific conflicts the Constitution elicited. The original “Founders' Constitution” contained compromises intended to balance the power of the populous North and the slaveholding South, including the three-fifths clause, the Electoral College, the slave-trade clause, and the

Argument (complex analysis · Constitution · Constitutional law · Constitutionalism · Democracy · Glossary · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · American Constitutional Law and Politics · History · Law · Philosophy