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The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery, and the Refounding of America
Maybe someday
35
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
65/100Critics
5/100Scholars
Author:
Noah Feldman
Publisher:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Date:
November 2, 2021
A Harvard law professor argues that Lincoln deliberately and recurrently violated the United States' founding arrangements and effectively rewrote the Constitution's place in the American system.
What The Reviewers Say
Feldman’s reliance on Jefferson Davis to frame a book on Abraham Lincoln thus makes perfect sense: Aside from the slaveholders’ insistence on the ethical legitimacy of slavery, Feldman’s constitutional analysis consistently backs their arguments over Lincoln’s. Less than perfect, unfortunately, are the renderings of American history he offers to support his surprising thesis.
Vignettes about slavery, the negotiators of the compromises, abolitionists, the Civil War, and beyond offer context for Feldman’s innovative legal analysis. In describing interactions among political groups, voting rights, diverse views of abolitionists, suspending habeas corpus, and censorship, Feldman offers insights strikingly relevant to today’s politics..
While Feldman’s book...has many valuable insights, its argument downplays some crucial context. Feldman indicts Lincoln for his wartime suspension of civil liberties but has little to say about the abuses of power that provoked the constitutional crisis: Southern enslavers’ prolonged suppression of free speech or their radical defiance of Lincoln’s lawful election.
The Broken Constitution reflects [Feldman's] formidable gifts. His account of the legal controversy surrounding Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus is masterly. It exemplifies Mr. Feldman’s talent for explaining complex legal matters elegantly and conveying what is important without condescending to the general reader.
