The Thirteenth Amendment and American Freedom : : A Legal History / / Alexander Tsesis.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Tsesis, Alexander,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2004]; ©2004
• Year of Publication: 2004
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

In this narrative history and contextual analysis of the Thirteenth Amendment, slavery and freedom take center stage. Alexander Tsesis demonstrates how entrenched slavery was in pre-Civil War America, how central it was to the political events that resulted in the Civil War, and how it was the driving force that led to the adoption of an amendment that ultimately provided a substantive assurance of freedom for all American citizens. The story of how Supreme Court justices have interpreted the Thirteenth Amendment, first through racist lenses after Reconstruction and later influenced by the modern civil rights movement, provides insight into the tremendous impact the Thirteenth Amendment has had on the Constitution and American culture. Importantly, Tsesis also explains why the Thirteenth Amendment is essential to contemporary America, offering fresh analysis on the role the Amendment has played regarding civil rights legislation and personal liberty case decisions, and an original explanation of the substantive guarantees of freedom for today's society that the Reconstruction Congress envisioned over a century ago.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Part I -- 1 Slavery and Its Social Penetration -- 2 On the Road to Ratification -- 3 End of Radical Ideals and Judicial Response -- 4 Summing Up and Looking Ahead -- Part II -- 5 Theoretical Foundation -- 6 Thirteenth Amendment and Constitutional Rights -- 7 Contemporary Settings -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author