Reconstruction - Constituting America

Ex Parte McCardle (1869)

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2017, Blog, Joerg W. Knipprath 7. U.S. Supreme Court Decisions and Justices, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 7. The United States Supreme Court: Landmark Decisions and the Justices Who Made Them., Ex Parte McCardle (1869) – Guest Essayist: Joerg Knipprath, Joerg W. Knipprath, Propeller Genesee Chief v. Fitzhugh 1851

Guest Essayist: Joerg Knipprath

Ex parte McCardle was forged in the superheated atmosphere of Southern reconstruction after the Civil War. The struggle to shape that reconstruction pitted the “Radical” Republicans (representing the pre-war abolitionist wing) against moderates within the party. Democrats, reduced to a rump faction, could do little more than get out of the way and, if palatable, delicately offer support to the Republican moderates. The political and constitutional fault line cut between the restrained Lincoln-Johnson presidential reconstruction based on maintaining the existing federalism, but with abolition of slavery, and the program of congressional radicals to treat the South as a conquered province reduced to territorial status, prostrate before Northern arms and to be cleansed of the twin stains of slavery and secession by stripping the erstwhile states of their old constitutional privileges.

1960, The Election Of The First Catholic President As A Vindication Of The First Amendment’s Clauses On Religious Freedom And Religion Establishment

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Tony Williams 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, 1960 The Election Of The First Catholic President As A Vindication Of The First Amendment’s Clauses On Religious Freedom And Religion Establishment, Bill of Rights, Cold War, Fair Deal, Great Society, New Deal, Reconstruction, Supreme Court, Tony Williams, World War II

Guest Essayist: Tony Williams

JFK, Catholicism, and the 1960 Election

The American Founding ushered in a “new order for the ages” that included the unprecedented and remarkable natural right of liberty of conscience. The First Amendment protected this universal right of all humans and banned Congress from establishing an official religion. The Constitution also banned all religious tests for national office.

1880, James Garfield Defeats Winfield Scott Hancock: The Tariff Controversy, Post-Civil War

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Blog, Kirk Higgins 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, 1880 James Garfield Defeats Winfield Scott Hancock The Tariff Controversy Post-Civil War, Civil War, Electoral College, Kirk Higgins, Reconstruction

Guest Essayist: Kirk Higgins

When one reflects on the history of the United States, the politics of the Gilded Age are often overlooked. Many find little value in understanding the intricacies of the political wheeling and dealing, often engineered by political machinery in both major parties. Nevertheless, these elections are as a part of the collective American consciousness as any before or since. They are central to understanding the American political character as it dealt with the aftereffects of the great national tragedy that was the American Civil War.

April 20, 2016/1 Comment/by Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie

1876, Rutherford B. Hayes Defeats Samuel Tilden: The End of Reconstruction

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Forrest Nabors 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes Defeats Samuel Tilden The End Of Reconstruction, Civil War, Forrest Nabors, Reconstruction

Guest Essayist: Professor Forrest Nabors

We remember 1865 as the year when our Civil War ended. But by another measure, the standard of von Clausewitz, that war is politics continued by other means, the political conflict that erupted into formal war did not end until after Rutherford B. Hayes was sworn in as president in 1877. The period known as Reconstruction after the war continued that political conflict and was also violent, though the combatants were paramilitaries and its wars were not wars of maneuver with grand armies.

April 18, 2016/1 Comment/by Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie

1868, Ulysses S. Grant Defeats Horatio Seymour: Reconstruction And The Constitution

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, Forrest Nabors 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, 1868 Ulysses S. Grant Defeats Horatio Seymour Reconstruction And The Constitution, Civil War, Forrest Nabors

Guest Essayist: Professor Forrest Nabors

Fearless and firm under fire, unflaggingly modest despite reverent acclaim, and always practical – these outstanding qualities of Ulysses S. Grant are acknowledged, whether begrudgingly or enthusiastically, by the many critics of his presidency as well as by his defenders. Grant was quintessentially American, and yet as a leader he proved that his particular mixture of quintessentially American qualities represented the best of us, which might explain why his soldiers trusted him, the northern people adored him and the southern people respected him.

April 12, 2016/3 Comments/by Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie

Civil War Amendments

6. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 90 in 90 2016, James Legee 6. Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, 17. Topics, Civil War, Civil War Amendments, James Legee

Guest Essayist: James Legee

For nearly the first century of her existence, America had left a promise unfulfilled to both the souls that resided within her borders, as well as humanity at large. That promise, largely taken for granted today, cost the blood of nearly five thousand in the American Revolution and hundreds of thousands in the Civil War, is the revolutionary idea expressed in the Declaration of Independence that every person is born equal. The Civil War and Reconstruction fundamentally altered the Union, and most certainly for the better. The Civil War Amendments, the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th, sought to fulfill the promise of equality for those enslaved.

April 11, 2016/4 Comments/by Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie

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