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Negotiating the Constitution : The Earliest Debates over Original Intent / Joseph M. Lynch.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018]Copyright date: ©2005Description: 1 online resource (336 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9781501728334
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 342.73/029
LOC classification:
  • KF4510.L96 1999
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- CHAPTER ONE. The Constitutional Convention: Virginians and Power -- CHAPTER TWO. The Politics and Promises of Ratification -- CHAPTER THREE. Virginia’s Interests: Madison’s Shifting Canons -- CHAPTER FOUR. Madison and Strict Construction -- CHAPTER FIVE. The Emergence of Opposition -- CHAPTER SIX. Opposition and Foreign Policy -- CHAPTER SEVEN. Strict Construction: Impracticalities and Trivialities -- CHAPTER EIGHT. Jay’s Treaty and the Withering of Madison’s Authority -- CHAPTER NINE. Turbulence, Aliens, and Sedition -- CHAPTER TEN. Sedition and the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions -- CHAPTER ELEVEN. The Fall of the Federalists -- Epilogue: Text, Intent, and Practicality -- Cases Cited -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Index
Summary: No concept sparks more controversy in constitutional debate than "original intent." Offering a legal historian's approach to the subject, this book demonstrates that the framers deliberately obscured one of their more important decisions. Joseph M. Lynch argues that the Constitution was a product of political struggles involving regional interests, economic concerns, and ideology. The framers, he maintains, settled on enigmatic wording of the Necessary and Proper Clause and of the General Welfare provision in the Spending Clause as a compromise, leaving the extent of federal power to be determined by the political process. During ratification, however, attempts by dissident framers to undo the compromise were repelled in The Federalist: charges of overly broad congressional powers were met with protestations that in fact these powers were limited. Lynch describes how early lawmakers applied the Constitution to such issues as executive power and privilege, the deportation of aliens, and the prohibition of seditious speech. He follows the disputes over the interpretation of this document—focusing on James Madison's changing views—as the new government took shape and political parties were formed. Lynch points out that the first six Congresses and President George Washington disregarded the framers' intentions when they were deemed impractical to follow. In contrast, he warns that the version of original intent put forth in recent Supreme Court opinions regarding congressional power could hinder Congress in serving the nation.
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Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781501728334

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- CHAPTER ONE. The Constitutional Convention: Virginians and Power -- CHAPTER TWO. The Politics and Promises of Ratification -- CHAPTER THREE. Virginia’s Interests: Madison’s Shifting Canons -- CHAPTER FOUR. Madison and Strict Construction -- CHAPTER FIVE. The Emergence of Opposition -- CHAPTER SIX. Opposition and Foreign Policy -- CHAPTER SEVEN. Strict Construction: Impracticalities and Trivialities -- CHAPTER EIGHT. Jay’s Treaty and the Withering of Madison’s Authority -- CHAPTER NINE. Turbulence, Aliens, and Sedition -- CHAPTER TEN. Sedition and the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions -- CHAPTER ELEVEN. The Fall of the Federalists -- Epilogue: Text, Intent, and Practicality -- Cases Cited -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Index

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No concept sparks more controversy in constitutional debate than "original intent." Offering a legal historian's approach to the subject, this book demonstrates that the framers deliberately obscured one of their more important decisions. Joseph M. Lynch argues that the Constitution was a product of political struggles involving regional interests, economic concerns, and ideology. The framers, he maintains, settled on enigmatic wording of the Necessary and Proper Clause and of the General Welfare provision in the Spending Clause as a compromise, leaving the extent of federal power to be determined by the political process. During ratification, however, attempts by dissident framers to undo the compromise were repelled in The Federalist: charges of overly broad congressional powers were met with protestations that in fact these powers were limited. Lynch describes how early lawmakers applied the Constitution to such issues as executive power and privilege, the deportation of aliens, and the prohibition of seditious speech. He follows the disputes over the interpretation of this document—focusing on James Madison's changing views—as the new government took shape and political parties were formed. Lynch points out that the first six Congresses and President George Washington disregarded the framers' intentions when they were deemed impractical to follow. In contrast, he warns that the version of original intent put forth in recent Supreme Court opinions regarding congressional power could hinder Congress in serving the nation.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Apr 2024)