The American Historian

January 2022: Constitutional and Legal History

Abortion and Motherhood

  1. Episode 17 - “Abortion and Public Health in Pre-Roe California,” by Alicia Gutierrez-Romine (Intervals, 2020) 
    • An analysis of California’s prohibitions on abortions before Roe v. Wade and its effects on Public Health. 
  2. Histories of Abortion in the United States, by OAH Blog (Process History, May 2019) 
    • A Compiled resource of books and reviews for those wanting to learn and teach about the history of abortion, reproductive rights, and Roe v. Wade. This review sweeps how the field developed over 4 decades. 
  3. Abolishing Abortion: The History of the Pro-Life Movement in America, by Jennifer Holland (The American Historian, Nov. 2016)
    • A history of the pro-life movement in the United States.
  4. On Heartbeats, Abolitionists, and Abortion Bans, by Jennifer Holland (Process History, May 2019) 
    • A history of abortion activism before and after Roe v. Wade concludes: “The bills in Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri are not evidence, then, that the modern movement has become more extreme. Rather, they are a reminder that the anti-abortion movement has always been extreme.” 
  5. Making Motherhood a Felony: African American Women's Welfare Rights Activism in New Orleans and the End of Suitable Home Laws, 1959–1962, by Andrew Pope (Journal of American History, Sept. 2018)

Voting Rights

  1. Votes for Colonized Women, by Laura Prieto (Process History, May 2020) 
    • An analysis of the 19th Amendment’s impact for women in the Caribbean and Pacific Territories of the UNited States. This transnational research on Women’s suffrage contextualizes U.S. history into the broader history of its empire. 
  2. New Nixon and Youth Politics, 1968, by Seth Blumenthal (Process History, Dec. 2018) 
    • An article on the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution and how its addition encouraged the Nixon campaign team to try to pivot its strategy to recruiting young voters! 
  3. The 150th Anniversary of the Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, by Ellen Dubois and Vivien Rose (Talking History, July 1998) 
    • A Discussion with Ellen Dubois looking back through time at the Women’s Rights movements. This program also features a commentary by Vivien Rose, historian at the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, N.Y.
  4. The Passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, by Steven Mintz (Magazine of History, 2007) 
    • An article of the various campaigns and state referenda that went into the 19th amendment’s passage. 
  5. A Brief History of Felon Disenfranchisement and Prison Gerrymanders, by Cristina Rivers (The American Historian, Nov. 2017)
    • This article examines how although prisoners are inelgible to vote, they still count in the overall census population in the electoral count where the prison is located. Consquently, convicted fellons are disenfranchised but still taken advantage of when counted in the overal district population.

Reform 

  1. For Labor and Democracy: The Farm Security Administration’s Competing Visions for Farm Workers’ Socioeconomic Reform and Civil Rights in the 1940s, by Dr. Mireya Loza and Dr. Veronica Martinez-Matsuda (JAH Podcasts, Sept. 2019). 
    • Guest host Dr. Mireya Loza, Assistant Professor in Food Studies at New York University, interviews Dr. Verónica Martínez-Matsuda Assistant Professor of Labor Relations, Law, and History at Cornell University, about her article "For Labor and Democracy: The Farm Security Administration's Competing Visions for Farm Workers' Socioeconomic Reform and Civil Rights in the 1940s", which appears in the September 2019 issue of the Journal of American History.
  2. Tax Revolts, Tax Marches, and the Politics of Transparency in U.S. History, by Molly Michelmore (Process History, April 2017)     
    • An analysis of the history of tax activism and its connection to other marches throughout history. Tracing this back to the Nixon administration, the 16th amendment, and the desire for political transparency - this article also hints at why Presidential Candidate tax records are a hot commodity. 
  3. The Notion of Tax Reform in Historical Perspective, by Ajay K. Mehrotra (Process History, July 2017) 
    • An analysis of the history of tax law and continuous plans at reform and why it seems like every administration pitches tax reform. 
  4. From Devolution to DeVos: A Brief History of the Federal Role in American Education, by Lawrence J. McAndrews (Process History, Feb. 2017) 
    • A history of American Federalism in flux through the lens of Education Policy. 
  5. The Troubled History of American Education after the Brown Decision, by Sonya Ramsey (Process History, Feb. 2017) 
    • An analysis of the struggle to integrate schools, secure funding, and secure legal support after the Brown v Topeka Board of Education decisions. This analysis follows the struggles faced inside and outside of schools adapting to desegregation. 
  6. Donald Trump and the Anti-New Deal Tradition, by Lawrence Glickman (Process History, Dec. 2016) 
    • This commentary places the Trump-Era Anti-New Dealism in conversation with its FDR-Era counterparts. 
  7. History of Child Labor in the United States, by Kristi Lindenmyer and David Larson (Talking History, Sept. 1998)
    • A radio show discussion with Kristi Lindenmyer on the history of Child Labor in the United States. This program also features a commentary by David Larson, Creighton University labor law professor, on why Labor Day should be celebrated.
  8. Mardi Gras, by Reid Mitchel (Talking History, Feb. 1999) 
    • Including for the feature: Op-ed by John Andrew, professor of history at Franklin and Marshall College, looks at tax reform.
  9. Affirmative Action, by Todd Jones and Linda Gordon (Talking History, Sept. 2000) 
    • A talk with Todd Jones, philosophy professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and co-editor of the book Affirmative Action: Social Justice or Reverse Discriminaton?. The program contains an op-ed about welfare by professor Linda Gordon. 
  10.  Austria’s Freedom Party, by Anson Rabinbach and Edward O’Donnell (Talking History, April 2000)
    • Including for the feature: The program contains an op-ed by Edward O'Donnell on the calls for immigration reform throughout history.
  11. Education Reform, by Dian Ravitch and Arnita Jones (Talking HIstory, Aug. 2001) 
    • An interview with author Diane Ravitch on the history of reform in public education. Ravitch was an assistant secretary at the U. S. Department of Education from 1991-93 and currently holds the Brown Chair in Education Studies at the Brookings Institution. Ravitch is the author of Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms. The commentary provided by Arnita Jones, executive director of the American Historical Association, looks at the impact of the call by Congress for improved teaching of American history on professional historians. 
  12. “The Arm of the Law”: Anticruelty Organizations and Statebuilding in Gilded Age America, by Susan J. Pearson (The American Historian, Nov. 2017)
    • This article examines how animal and child safety organizations transformed ideologies, insitutions, and laws, and expanded the reach of the state in the Gilded Age.
  13. How to Teach Controversial Constitutional Issues Facing Women, by Mary Frances Berry (Magazine of History, 1988) 
    • An article on how to teach about various Women’s Rights issues through constitutional history. 
  14. The Supreme Court Speaks on Student Rights, by Rita G. Koman (Magazine of History, 1998) 
    • A Lesson plan for teaching constitutional law through the supreme court actions involving schools. 
  15. The Supreme Court’s Sexual Counter-Revolution, by Marc Stein (Magazine of History, 2006) 
    • An analysis of the various Supreme Court Cases after World War II that redefined how the Federal Government approached the law and sex. 
  16. National Organization for Women (NOW) Bill of Rights for 1969 (Magazine of History, 1985) 
    • A combined lesson plan with primary sources  for teaching the NOW Bill of Rights for 1969. 
  17. Behind the Veil: Behind Brown, by Leslie Brown and Anne Valk (Magazine of History, 2004) 
    • A Lesson Plan for getting into all of the intricacies of the Brown v. Board of Education case.
  18. Roberts, Plessy, and Brown: The Long, Hard Struggle Against Segregation, by James Oliver Horton and Michele Gates Moresi (Magazine of History, 2001) 
    • An article on the evolution of Supreme Court decisions on the path to end legalized segregation in the United States. 
  19. “Nothing About Us WIthout Us”: Disability Rights in America, by Richard K. Scotch (Magazine of History, 2009) 
    • An analysis of Disability activism beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act. 
  20. James and His Striped Velvet Pantaloons: Textiles, Commerce, and the Law in the New Republic, by Laura F. Edwards, (The Journal of American History, Sept. 2020)


Emancipation/Reconstruction 

  1. Juneteenth and Beyond: African American Emancipation Celebrations Since 1808, by Wilma King (Process History, June 2019) 
    • A history of various Emancipation laws and their celebrations. This article challenges the narratives surrounding the Emancipation Proclamation as a liberation document and brings light to the celebration of Juneteenth. 
  2. Reconstruction-Era Politics Shaped historically Black Colleges and Universities, by Leigh Soares (Process History, Feb. 2018) 
    • An analysis of the founding of HBCU’s and the influence of Jim Crow. 3% of all colleges and universities graduate 20% of all African Americans who earn undergraduate degrees. 
  3. Learning from the Legal Culture of Gradual Emancipation, or, Misled by the Thirteenth Amendment, by Hendrik Hartog (Process History, Aug. 2016) 
    • An article about how it might have been like to experience Emancipation for those living at the time. This article is mostly told from the perspective of those in power and from a legal perspective. It is also written as a “day in the life” style narrative. 
  4. Plant and Clarke: Federal Segregation and Gold Star Mothers, by Frances Clarke and Rebecca Jo Plant (Process History, Oct. 2017) 
    • An interview with Frances Clarke and Rebecca Jo PLant about their article “The Crowning Insult: Federal Segregation and the Gold Star Mother and Widow Pilgrimages of the Early 1940s” which was published in Sept. 2015 in the JAH. This discusses African American responses to the segregation of Gold Star Mothers pilgrimages in the 1930s. 
  5. There’s Nothing New about the “New Slavery”, by Andres Resendez (Process History, July 2016) 
    • This article challenges the narrative that child labor is not slavery. Instead, Resendez argues that slavery continues to thrive in multiple modes including child labor, prison sentences, and any sort of forced labor for low or no compensation. This article is contextualized through a legal history of the many ways in which this has been “outlawed” and yet allowed. 
  6. Using Poor Laws to Regulate Race in Providence in the 1820s, by Gabriel Loiacono (Process History, Jan. 2018) 
    • A history of poor laws and how they were used to control more than poor people. Instead, they were used to control free Black people in Rhode Island, especially free black children. 
  7. Slave Petitions, by Loren Schweninger (Talking History, Oct. 2001) 
    • Historian Loren Schweninger talks about his latest project involving slave petitions, The Southern Debate Over Slavery: Petitions to Southern Legislatures, 1777--1864. Schweninger is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
  8. An Angle of Vision: Black Women and the United States Constitution, 1787-1987, by Darlene Clark Hine (Magazine of History, 1988) 
    • An article on the importance of centering Black women in discussions of the United States Constitution. 
  9. Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Constitution, by Jennifer L. Rosenfeld (Magazine of History, 2007) 
    • This article seeks to answer the question: “Did Lincoln follow the presidential oath or did he abuse his power as president during the Civil War and damage the constitution he had sworn to protect?” 
  10. “Dictator Lincoln”: Surveying Lincoln and the Constitution, by Phillip Shaw Paludan (Magazine of History, 2007) 
    • This article looks at the Civil War as a constitutional crisis: There was much to discuss about powers and liberties before, during, and after the war, and without this discussion the Constitution would not endure as the governing document of the United States.
  11. Slavery, The Constitution, and the Origins of the Civil War, by Paul Finkelman (Magazine of History, 2011) 
    • This article analyzes the Civil War as a revolution on the Constitution. 
  12. Liberty is Land and Slaves: The Great Contradiction, by Seth Rockman (Magazine of History, 2005) 
    • An article analyzing the intersection of African American and Native American history as they bear the brunt of Jacksonian Democracy. 
  13. Reconstruction, The Fourteenth Amendment, and Personal Liberties, by Jean West Mueller and Wynell Burroughs Schamel (Magazine of History, 1989) 
    • A lesson plan for teaching about the reconstruction amendments through the texts of the Fourteenth Amendments and a petition from the citizens of Cleveland, Tennessee. 
  14. Dramatic Turning Point or Points? Teaching Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, by Stanley Harrold (Magazine of History, 2013) 
    • An analysis of Lincoln’s engagement with the military, political, constitutional, and diplomatic aspects of the Civil War through the Emancipation Proclamation. 
  15. The Dred Scott Case as an American Family Saga, by Lea VanderVelde (Magazine of History, 2011) 
    • A deeper look into the Dred Scott v. Sanford case beyond the precedent and into the lawsuit that involved an entire family. 
  16. Rethinking the Role of the Courts in the Lives of Black Southerners, by Melissa Milewski (The American Historian, Nov. 2017)
    • This article explores how Black Southerners used the courts to their advantage during the period of Jim Crow

Supreme Court Cases (not in another Category) 

  1. Richard Nixon at the Supreme Court, by Samantha Barbas (Process History, March 2017) 
    • An analysis of the landmark case Time, Inc. v. Hill (1967) and Hulk Hogan v. Gawker (2016) which questioned its precedent. In this analysis of the history of privacy law and the freedom of the press, Nixon’s actions and attitudes are laid bare. 
  2. Scopes Monkey Trial, by Edard Larson (Talking History, July 2000)
    • A talk with historian Edward Larson, author of Summer for the Gods, The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. 
  3. Lessons on Judicial Interpretation: How Immigrants Takao Ozawa and Yick Wo Searched the Courts for a Place in America, by Steven C. Teel (Magazine of History 1998) 
    • A Lesson PLan for teaching Immigrant history through the Supreme Court Case Yick Wo v. Hopkins
  4. Dignity, Honor, and Civility: New York Times v. Sullivan, by Kermit L. Hall (Magazine of History, 1995) 
    • Understanding the broader historical context of the greatest political libel case ever decided by the Supreme Court as well as its impact on the First Amendment. 
  5. The Flag Salute Case, by Melvin I. Urofsky (Magazine of History, 1995) 
    • An analysis of the various cases leading up to Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) and tests of Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, and Patriotism.
  6. Teaching About the Feminist Rights Revolution: Ruth Bader Ginsburg as “The Thurgood Marshall of Women’s Rights,” by Robert Cohen and Luara J. Dull (The American Historian, Nov. 2017)
    • This article shows how to use the career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to teach about the history of feminist rights

Constitutional History General 

  1. Constitutional Originalism and History, by Jonathan Gienapp (Process History, March 2017) 
    • A commentary on the historical precedent of constitutional originalism. This title was self proclaimed by Justice Neil Gorsuch. 
  2. The U.S. Constitution in the Classroom: Some Problems and Solutions, by Jean A. Luckowski and Albert J. Shannon (Magazine of History, 1988) 
    • Teaching advice for teaching about the history and content of the United States Constitution. 
  3. Teaching about the U.S. Constitution Through Metaphor: Government as a Machine, by Randy K. Mills (Magazine of History, 1988) 
    • An article about the use of metaphoric thinking as a teaching and learning strategy as well as how to use this strategy when teaching about the United States Constitution. 
  4. What is a Constitution? by National History Day (Magazine of History,1988) 
    • A Lesson Plan for teaching about the Constitutional Convention. 
  5. Locke and the Constitution, by Lori F. Brandt (Magazine of History, 1988) 
    • An NEH article on how the enlightenment ideas influenced the writing of the American Constitution. 
  6. A Jigsaw Strategy: Teaching Opposing Viewpoints on the Ratification of the United States Constitution, by A. Vincent Ciardiello (Magazine of HIstory, 1993) 
    • A lesson plan for using the Jigsaw strategy to teach the various viewpoints at play during the Constitutional Convention. 
  7. Why Did the Founding Fathers Write the Constitution of the United States? by Alan Singer (Magazine of History, 1987) 
    • A Lesson Plan for teaching about why and how the United States constitution came to be. 
  8. Women: From the American Revolution to the United States Constitution, by Sharlene N. Watkins (Magazine of History, 1988) 
    • A Lesson plan for integrating Women’s History into the U.S. survey by centering their roles in Early American History. 
  9. 1787 and 1776: Patrick Henry, James Madison, and the Revolutionary Legitimacy of the Constitution, by Lance Banning (Magazine of History, 1988) 
    • An article analyzing whether or not the Constitution reflects the views and desires of the American Revolution. 
  10. How Five (Partly True) Myths Can Help Teachers Teach About the Constitution, by David Nichols (Magazine of History
    • Advice for teachers on how to teach about the Constitution by framing it around common myths. 
  11. Resources for Teaching about the Constitution, by David M. Seiter (Magazine of History, 1988) 
    • An annotated bibliography of ERIC resources for teaching Constitutional History. 
  12. Textbooks and the Ratification of the Constitution: A Review Essay, by Paul C. Cline and Anthony J. Eksterowicz (Magazine of History, 1992) 
    • A Review of College Textbooks and their quality as teaching tools for Constitution History. 

Lincoln and the Constitution 

  1. “Much Older than the Constitution”: Lincoln’s Theory of Nationhood, by Daniel A. Farber (Magazine of History, 2007) 
    • A Look into Lincoln’s phrase “The Union is much older than the Constitution” and how the Supreme Court looks at state and federal sovereignty. 
  2. Teaching Lincoln and the Constitution, by Phillip M. Guerty (Magazine of History, 2007) 
    • Continuing with the articles from the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, this article analyzes how to teach Constitution history alongside Abraham Lincoln’s presidential policies. 

Bill of Rights 

  1. Motels in America, by Jefferson Rogers and James Banner (Talking History, Aug. 1998) 
    • Including this because of the feature. This program also features a commentary by James M. Banner, Jr. co-director of the History News Service, who discusses whether free speech is alive or dead. 
  2. Teaching and Learning the Bill of Rights, by John J. Patrick (Magazine of History, 1990) 
    • An article analyzing the deficiencies in student knowledge surrounding Constitutional rights and how to fill those gaps. 
  3. Federalists and Anti-Federalists: I a Bill of Rights Essential to a Free Society? by Joseph R. Gotchy (Magazine of History, 1994) 
    • A Lesson Plan for teaching about the Bill of Rights and the viewpoints for and against it. 
  4. The Establishment Clause: Teaching First Amendment Rights Using Primary Sources, by Carl Siler (Magazine of History, 1990) 
    • A Lesson plan with resources for teaching about the Establishment Clause. 
  5. Teaching the Bill of Rights with ERIC Resources, by Vickie J. Schlene (Magazine of History, 1990) 
    • An Index of ERIC resources for teaching about the Bill of Rights with annotations on how to use them. 
  6. The Religion Clauses, by Melvin I. Urofsky (Magazine of History, 1990) 
    • An article on the intent behind, content of, and deployment of the religion clauses in the First Amendment of the United States constitution. 
  7. Understanding Religious Freedom Through Courtroom Simulation, by Gerald P. Long (Magazine of History, 1990) 
    • A lesson plan for teaching the religion clauses and their tensions using the court case Wisconsin v. Yoder in a classroom simulation. 
  8. Histories of Capital Punishment in the United States, by OAH Blog (Process History, Aug. 2019) 
    • This is another index. This time an index of Works and Reviews on the death penalty for those who would like to learn or teach about the subject. The list reviews the field over four decades. 
  9. Trial Rights of the Accused, by David J. Bodenhamer (Magazine of History, 1990) 
    • A history on how the rights of the accused came to be and how these rights became the cornerstone of American Due Process. 

Japanese Incarceration 

  1. The Japanese “Internment” Cases Revisited, by Edward T. Robinson (Magazine of History, 2003) 
    • Revisiting the supreme court cases of Hirabayashi, Korematsu, and Endo because they have primarily been misdescribed by high school history and government textbooks. 
  2. Further Thoughts on the Japanese American Cases, by Roger Daniels (Magazine of History, 2003) 
    • Dialogue with Edward T. Robinson gives a different view point. The two articles could be used together to facilitate debate about the cases. 

Marriage

  1. Which History in Obergefell v. Hodges? by Nancy F. Cott (Process History, July 2016). 
    • This article places Obergefell v. Hodges in its historical context. The necessity of context is important because many of the claims made by justice erase the “legality” of gay marraige in multiple cultures throughout the world before it being legally granted in the United States of America. 
  2. The Right to Marry: Loving v Virginia, by Peter Wallenstein (Magazine of History, 1995) 
    • A deep dive into the Supreme Court ruling on interracial marraiges and the intersection be tween state law, federal law, and Civil Rights. 
  3. “What’s Love Got to Do WIth It?” The Politics of Race and Marriage in the California Supreme Court’s 1958 Perez v. Sharp Decision, by Alex Lubin (Magazine of History, 2004) 
    • A state specific look at Interacial marriage. This Case also pre-dates the 1967 Loving decision. This lesson plan allows for teaching both federalism and interracial marraige injustice. 
  4. The American Melting Pot? Miscegenation Laws in the United States, by Barbara C. Cruz and Michael J. Berson (Magazine of History, 2001) 
    • Advice on how to teach about the history of anti-miscegenation policy and landmark decisions in the social studies classroom. 

Democracy  

  1. Trump, Democracy, and the Constitution, by Michael Klarman (Process History, Feb. 2018) 
    • A commentary on Donald Trump’s attack on Democracy and the Constitution. 
  2. “Third Wave” Democratization, by Larry Diamond and Susan Ware (Talking History, March 2001) 
    • A talk with professor Larry Diamond of Stanford University's Hoover Institute, about the concerns over this growing phenomenon. Diamond is the author of Developing Democracy.The program contains an op-ed by Harvard University professor Susan Ware, giving us her list of the 20th century's most influential women. 

Other 

  1.  ‘Land of the White Hunter’: Legal Liberalism and the Racial Politics of Morals Enforcement in Mid-century Los Angeles, by Dr. Max Felker-Kantor and Dr. Anne Gray Fischer (JAH Podcasts, March 2019) 
  2. Inside the JAH: Species of Sovereignty, by Gregory Ablavsky (Process History, March 2020) 
    • Ablavsky elaborates on the research behind the JAH Article: “Species of Sovereignty: Native Nationhood, the United States, and International Law, 1783–1795.”
  3. Human Rights Law, American Justice, and the “War on Terror”, by Martin S. Flaherty (Magazine of History, 2011) 
    • The following framework seeks to provide teachers a way to do the main ideas justice, yet also keep them manageable. It first covers certain preliminaries about the government's main reactions to the 9/11 attacks and to the sources of human rights limitations the policies encountered. It then turns to specifics, starting with indefinite detention, then “enhanced interrogation techniques,” and finally trials before special military commissions—as well as the key documentary sources of human rights law that each of these practices implicates along the way.
  4. The History of Animal Protection in the United States, by Janet M. Davis (The American Historian, Nov. 2015)
    • A look at anti-cruelty laws and their relation to animals in the United States.
  5. Asian Migrants, Exclusionary Laws, and Transborder Migration in North America, 1880-1940, by Yukari Takai (Magazine of History, 2009) 
    • An analysis of various laws affecting Asian Migrants in North American history from 1880-1940. 
  6. Historians in Court: A Roundtable, by Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Linda Gordon, and Kenneth Mack (The American Historian, Nov. 2017)
    • This roundtable discusses the historian’s role in the courtroom and the importance of historical legal testimony
  7. “Jews Not Admitted”: Anti-Semitism, Civil Rights, and Public Accommodation Laws, by Britt P. Tevis (The Journal of American History, March 2021)
  8. Queer Law and Order: Sex, Criminality, and Policing in the Late Twentieth-Century United States, by Timothy Stewart-Winter (The Journal of American History, June 2015)