Title

The Continuing Importance of Congressman John A. Bingham and the Fourteenth Amendment

Authors

Richard L. Aynes, University of Akron School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

January 2003

Abstract

Lead article in a symposium issue.

In the now-famous 1830s chronicle of a visit to America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that in America every political issue is ultimately a legal issue in the courts. For Americans who lived through the antislavery and abolitionist era as well as the crisis of the war of 1861-1865, the military victory of the Union forces on the field of battle still left open large political issues. These issues were attempted to be resolved through the political process that produced a legal solution: a constitutional amendment that we currently identify as the Fourteenth Amendment. The meaning of the Amendment was ultimately determined by the courts.

Publication Title

Akron Law Review

First Page

589

Last Page

615

Recommended Citation

Richard L. Aynes, The Continuing Importance of Congressman John A. Bingham and the Fourteenth Amendment, 36 Akron Law Review 589 (2003).