Changes in Law and Society During the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Legal History Documentary Reader
It is a truism that much can be learned about the evolution of a society by studying changes in its laws. This is the premise of historian/attorney Christian G. Samito’s Changes in Law and Society During the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Legal History Documentary Reader. Samito’s book uses transformations in American law from the antebellum period to the end of Reconstruction as a lens through which to see a fundamental alteration of the concept of “national citizenship.” To that end Samito has compiled and edited a number of significant original documents. These run the gamut from the familiar, including several well-known Supreme Court decisions and official acts and correspondence by Abraham Lincoln, to the obscure but highly interesting. Among the latter are transcripts of courts-martial proceedings involving African American soldiers and congressional investigative reports regarding postwar racial violence in the South. The dominant theme is the transition of African Americans from Southern bondage and nascent rights in the North to emancipation, service in the war, and, finally, to uncertain, illusory citizenship. Fittingly, the book closes with the judicial affirmation of “separate but equal” in the Supreme Court’s 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling. Samito also devotes a chapter to the rapid war-mandated expansion of the federal government, including Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus, the draft and enactment of an income tax. Each chapter is prefaced by a succinct essay which summarizes the events and documents covered and places them in thematic context. The primary focus, of course, is on the documents themselves. Samito is a skillful editor and his talent is evident. For example, Chief Justice Taney’s opinion in the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision is reduced from 55 pages to six; the several concurring opinions are ignored; and only one edited dissenting opinion is included. Scholars still debate whether Taney’s views on black citizenship were shared by a judicial majority, but it was Taney’s words on the subject which inflamed the North. Samito’s careful pruning leaves little doubt why. Possibly for space reasons, significant documents have been referred to but their text left out, especially in the chapter on national expansion. Why Samito includes the income tax enactment but omits the Pacific Railroad Act and the Homestead Act, which were driven by more than merely war needs, is not readily apparent. The absence of anything from the Confederacy is puzzling. Documents such as the letters and speeches by the Secession Commissioners, the Confederate Constitution, sporadically-published decisions of the Confederate “district courts,” state court decisions and the proposal to free slaves for military service might shed light on the national citizenship question as it evolved in the crucible of secession, civil war and defeat. These omissions do not diminish Samito’s work, however. That said, this book is not for everyone. Judicial opinion-writing of the time was generally stilted and verbose and statutes rarely contain engrossing prose. Legal training or a background in Constitutional history is helpful, although not essential. Those looking for a narrative treatment or thorough analysis of the subject are better served by the sources listed in Samito’s “further reading” compilation. Nor is this book truly a reference work. Instead, as its title suggests, it is a sampling of original documents edited for comprehension. For its target audience, this is a highly recommended one-volume alternative to pulling old copies of the United States Reports off the shelves or hunting down statutes that have long since been repealed, superseded or amended. Interested readers will gain a level of understanding about the subject which is possible only by reading the actual words which were used. Reviewer: John Foskett John Foskett is a practicing attorney in Boston, Mass., with a lifelong interest in the Civil War.
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Illustrated, notes, index, 336 pp., softcover, 2009. Southern Illinois University Press, 1915 University Press Dr., Carbondale, IL 62901. $29.50 plus shipping.