Preserving the Constitution

Reviews / Votes

"Specialists in the field revisiting these essays will be reminded why Benedict occupies the front rank of Reconstruction historians and will benefit from the new insights offered in his revisions. Readers new to this scholarship will encounter the fine working of a first-class mind wrestling with some of the most complex problems of this most complex period in American history." -The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era "Deeply researched, and insightful, these essays offer provocative analyses of the major constitutional issues and political problems of the Reconstruction era. A valuable collection demonstrating the importance of Benedict's contribution to the field." -- -Michael Perman coeditor of The Road to Redemtion: Southern Politics, 1869-1879 "Michael Les Benedict's superb collection of essays offers a striking analysis of how entwined the political contests of Reconstruction were with the most fundamental subjects of American constitutionalism - citizenship, civil and political rights, and federalism. They also vividly remind us that mining the rich vein of constitutional politics during Reconstruction or any other era remains a compelling task for historians." -- -Kermit L. Hall editor of the Oxford Companion to American Law "Over the past generation, Michael Les Benedict has reshaped our understanding of the political and constitutional issues of Reconstruction. It is delightful to have these provocative essays in one accessible volume." -- -Eric Foner author of Forever Free : The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction "From an eminent constitutional authority, Preserving the Constitution is an invaluable collection of essays on the great constitutional transformations of Reconstruction. Lucid, nuanced, and deeply informed, Benedict lays out an apparent paradox: the program for Reconstruction maintained "the essentials" of the antebellum federal system even while providing broad new national powers to protect rights." -- -Pamela T. Brandwein author of Reconstructing Reconstruction: The Supreme Court and the Production of Historical Truth "Affirms Michael Les Benedict's standing in the field, as defined by his meticulous and incisive probing of some of the deepest questions of Reconstruction politics." -Journal of Southern History "The best of Benedict in one volume." -- -Paul Finkelman "Benedict's emphasis on the political development of constitutional ideas is a welcome corrective to conventional Court-centered accounts, restoring popular constitutionalism to its rightful place in the dynamic of constitutional change. The reappearance of these essays in book form, enriched by their author's historiographic reflections, makes these important contributions accessible to a wider audience." -- -William M. Wiecek author of The Lost World of Classical Legal Thought : Law and Ideology in America, 1886-1937