When States Rights Were Emancipatory and Federalism was Restrictive: The Interbellum Constitution of 1812-1865

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2024

⏱️ 51 minutes

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Summary

Today, the words “federalism” and “originalism” are bandied about in the news almost daily, but to get at the underpinnings of these modern interpretations of constitutional law, it is essential to look at how the Constitution was being interpreted and applied during the crucial period of 1815-1861, between the end of the War of 1812 and the beginning of the Civil War.

Early nineteenth-century Americans found themselves consumed by arguments about concurrent power—the areas in which the Constitution had left the line between federal and state authority unclear. The scope of specific concurrent powers became increasingly important, and controversial, in the early nineteenth century. In 1815, the most pressing political and legal issues increasingly concerned situations in which multiple layers of governmental power overlapped—and the Constitution provided no clear delineation. Moreover, the choice of which level of government regulated each subject had dramatic consequences for the policy that resulted.

To explore this topic is today’s guest, Alison LaCroix, author of “The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of Federalisms.” We see just how deeply these constitutional questions dominated the discourse of the time.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's got here with another episode, The History Employed Podcast.
0:08.0	There are a number of traditional stories and ideas about the American Constitution
0:11.8	that have become fixed, including that its meaning was
0:14.8	universally understood when it was written in 1787, that it changed very little until the
0:19.9	Civil War, when afterwards former slaves were granted citizenship and this
0:23.4	review amendments created what some call the second Constitution, that constitutional
0:27.7	law only consists of what the Supreme Court says, and national power is inherently emancipatory, while states are necessarily repressive.
0:37.0	But if you look more closely at the interbellum period, after the War of 1812 but before the Civil
0:41.5	War, you see that the Constitution was just as contested as it is today.
0:46.2	There were originalists of the period and those who held something similar to a living Constitution
0:51.0	idea.
0:52.0	The very basis of the US national model was
0:54.2	being debated everywhere from newspapers to state houses to local pubs and
0:58.1	pulpits. And there were many arguments about the line between federal and state
1:01.6	authority which is when South Carolina threatens
1:04.2	a session over the right to control tariffs.
1:07.4	To explore this overlooked period as today's guest, Allison LeCroy, who's the author of the
1:11.5	new book The Interbellum Constitution, Union, Commerce, and slavery in the age of federalisms.
1:17.0	This shows that many of the constitutional debates today, and the argument about how freedom plays out in the United States has gone through many similar
1:23.7	stages in the past when we see how these questions were debated and answered over 150
1:28.6	years ago. Hope you enjoy this discussion with Allison Lucroy. And one more thing before we get started with
1:36.1	this episode a quick break for word from our sponsors. Ah she's brilliant.
	...

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