Legal History Commons^™

Playing With Words: Amar’S Nationalist Constitution, Robert J. Pushaw Jr.

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

This essay provides a balanced critique of Akhil Amar’s important book on early constitutional theory and practice. On the one hand, Amar’s work has three unique virtues. First, unlike other constitutional historians, he does not examine a particular clause or a brief time period (such as 1787‑1789), but rather analyzes the Constitution as a whole from 1760 to 1840. This holistic and longitudinal approach enables him to trace in detail the evolving constitutional views of America’s leading Founders—John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Marshall, and George Washington—and the personal relationships among those men that helped shape those …

Sticks, Stones, And So-Called Judges: Why The Era Of Trump Necessitates Revisiting Presidential Influence On The Courts, Quinn W. Crowley

Indiana Law Journal

This Note will be primarily divided into three main sections. Part I of this Note will begin by discussing the importance of judicial independence in modern society and the role of elected officials in shaping the public perception of the courts. Additionally, as problems of judicial legitimacy are age-old and date back to America’s founding, Part I will include a brief discussion of an early clash between President Thomas Jefferson and the courts.

Parts II and III of this Note will seek to place President Trump’s conduct towards the judicial branch within the proper historical context. Part II examines the …

Religious Liberty That Almost Wasn't: On The Origin Of The Establishment Clause Of The First Amendment, Gregory C. Downs

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

The purpose of this article is to briefly examine the origin of the Establishment Clause in the event sometimes referred to as the "Virginia Experience," and to consider the possibility that the significant "leading roles" in the First Amendment's creation were not limited to Jefferson and Madison. Further, Madison's leading role in the actual sponsorship of the First Amendment may not have been entirely voluntary. With the ever-present litigation and controversies revolving around the extent and meaning of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, the overlooked history of the creation of the First Amendment is both interesting and instructive in the …

Thomas Jefferson's Equity Commonplace Book, Edward Dumbauld

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Classical Republicanism And The American Revolution, Gordon S. Wood

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In his Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution, Professor Wood outlines the evolution of republicanism from antiquity to the eighteenth century and notes the ensuing evolution of American politics away from even this late republicanism.

Algernon Sidney On Public Right, Edward Dumbauld

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

John Locke And The Declaration Of Independence, Kenneth D. Stern

Cleveland State Law Review

In an article published in the Journal of the American Bar Association in 1949, Dean Clarence Manion, then Dean of the College of Law of the University of Notre Dame, stated, "It is misleading to attribute the philosophy of the Declaration (of Independence) to the writings of John Locke." Dean Manion feels that Locke implies that the rights of minority groups and even of individuals are subordinated to the dictates of the majority. Manion concluded that Jefferson's philosophy contrasts sharply with the Lockian creed. A more thorough examination of Locke's writings, however, tends to lead to the opposite conclusion.