A Documentary History of the American Civil War Era : Volume 3, Judicial Decisions, 1857-1866. Volume 3, Judicial decisions, 1857-1866 / Judicial decisions, 1857-1866. Volume 3

A Documentary History of the American Civil War Era is the first comprehensive collection of public policy actions, political speeches, and judicial decisions related to the American Civil War. Collectively, the four volumes in this series give scholars, teachers, and students easy access to the full texts of the most important, fundamental documents as well as hard-to-find, rarely published primary sources on this critical period in U.S. history. The first two volumes of the series, Legislative Achievements and Political Arguments, were released last year. The final installments, Judicial Decisions, is split into two volumes, with this one, volume 3, spanning from 1857 to 1866. It contains some of the classic judicial decisions of the time such as the 1857 decision in Dred Scott and the 1861 Ex parte Merryman decision. Other decisions are well known to specialists but deserve wider readership and discussion, such as the October 1859 Jefferson County, Virginia, indictment of John Brown and the decision in the 1864 case of political and seditious activity in Ex parte Vallandigham. These judicial voices constitute a lasting and often overlooked aspect of the age of Abraham Lincoln. Mackey's headnotes and introductory essays situate cases within their historical context and trace their lasting significance. In contrast to the war, these judicial decisions lasted well past their immediate political and legal moment and deserve continued scholarship and scrutiny. This document collection presents the raw "stuff" of the Civil War era so that students, scholars, and interested readers can measure and gauge how that generation met Lincoln's challenge to "think anew, and act anew." A Documentary History of the American Civil War Era is an essential acquisition for academic and public libraries in addition to being a valuable resource for courses on the Civil War and Reconstruction, legal history, political history, and nineteenth-century American history. Thomas C. Mackey is a professor of history at the University of Louisville and adjunct Professor of Law at Brandeis School of Law. He is the author of Pornography on Trial and Pursuing Johns. A Documentary History of the American Civil War Era is the first comprehensive collection of public policy actions, political speeches, and judicial decisions related to the American Civil War. This three-volume set gives scholars, teachers, and students easy access to the full texts of the most important, fundamental documents as well as hard-to-find, rarely published primary sources on this critical period in U.S. history. The first volume of the series, Legislative Achievements, contains legislation passed in response to the turmoil seizing the country on the brink of, during, and in the wake of the Civil War. Volume 2, Political Arguments, contains voices of politicians, political party platforms, and administrative speeches, and volume 3, Judicial Decisions, provides judicial opinions and decisions as the Civil War raged in the courtrooms as well as on the battlefields. Organized chronologically, each of the selections is preceded by an introductory headnote that explains the document's historical significance and traces its lasting impact. These headnotes provide insight into not only law and public policy but also the broad sweep of issues that engaged Civil War-era America. Legislative Achievements features some of the most momentous and enduring public policy documents from the time, beginning with the controversial September 15, 1850, Fugitive Slave Act and concluding with the June 18, 1878, Posse Comitatus Act. Both military and nonmilitary legislation constitute this part, including the April 19, 1861, proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln declaring a naval blockade on Southern ports and Confederate President Jefferson Davis's proclamation authorizing blockade runners to attack Northern shipping, both issued on the same day. Nonmilitary legislation includes statutes affecting the postwar period, such as the 1862 Homestead Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and all four of the Reconstruction Acts. Also in this section are the three constitutional amendments, the Habeas Corpus Acts of 1863 and 1867, the Freedman's Bureau Acts of 1865 and 1866, and the 1867 Tenure of Office Act together with President Andrew Johnson's message vetoing the Act This collection of documents, headnotes, and introductory essays enriches the study of the middle period of the nineteenth-century United States by providing students and scholars access to the most important (and sometimes Documentary History of the American Civil War Era overlooked and difficult to locate) public policy and judicial decisions in the era of Abraham Lincoln. Whether Your Faculty's Field Is Civil Rights, Con Law, Or Legal History, They Should Find This A Convenient Resource For Primary Source Research Into Many Of The Laws That Formed Modern America. David E. Matchen, Jr., Is The Circulation/reference Librarian At The University Of Baltimore School Of Law.