4 comments about John Marshall and the Heroic Age of the Supreme Court (Southern Biography Series).

1. John Marshall, our nation's fourth Chief Justice, served from 1801 until 1835. He was appointed by President John Adams in one of the last and most significant acts of his administration.

   Professor Kent Newmyer has written a comprehensive account of the great Chief Justice's career. The account is admirably researched and documented, drawing extensively on a new edition of Marshall's papers. It includes careful analyses of Marshall's leading opinions. Most importantly, Professor Newmyer gives a thoughtful discussion of Justice Marshall's place on the Court and on the importance of his vision of the United States for our history.

   The book includes a good discussion of Marshall's role in the Revolutionary War, as a successful lawyer in Virginia, and as a landowner and extensive land speculator. But most of the book consists of a discussion of Marshall's career on the Court, his opinions, and the manner in which he shaped the Court as an institution.

   While Newmyer admires his subject greatly, I found this a very balanced account. He allows that Justice Marshall did not always meet his own stated goals of separating law from politics and notes how Marshall's activities as a land speculator seemed to play a critical role in several of his leading opinions.

   The discussion begins with Marbury v Madison and its role in the doctrine of judicial review. It continues with a thorough discussion of Marshall's role in the treason trial of Aaron Burr, through a discussion of the great opinions construing the Commerce Clause and Contracts Clause of the Constitution, through the Cherokee Nation opinions that Marshall wrote near the end of his tenure which established the foundation of American Indian Law. (Professor Newmyer considers these decisions Justice Marshall's proudest moment.)

   The book considers Marshall's attitudes towards and opinions dealing with slavery. There is also a discussion of a series of polemical articles Justice Marshall exchanged with critics following the decision in McCollough v Maryland. Marshall's critics feared that he was giving too expansive a power to the National Government as opposed to the States. In fact, at the end of his career, Justice Marshall feared his life work had been overtaken by events with the rise of the democracy, a strong state rights movement, and the Presidency of Andrew Jackson.

   Professor Newmyer sees Justice Marshall as a Burkean conservative in a new world. Marshall interpreted the Constitution broadly, yet flexibility to allow the development of individual, and national commerce and enterprise. Yet he was devoted to institutions and strongly inclined to accept the world as he found it rather than make it over in accordance with abstract principles (as he accused the supporters of the French Revolution of doing.) Newmyer writes:

   Marshall spoke as a Burkean conservative, or as much of one as American circumstances allowed. He was repelled by reductionist abstractions as well as abstract idealims, even when it was couched, as was much of southern constitutionalism in terms of a mythical past. He worked from the 'given', accepted the world as it was, relished 'the disorder of experience" to borrow a phrase from Charles Rosen." (p.351)

   Justice Marshall was not an original thinker, but he took the text of the Constitution, together with the Federalist, and molded it and the Court's interpretive role in a way that is with us today. He remains America's great Chief Justice. There is much for the interested reader to learn and to think through in Professor Newmyer's fine study of Justice Marshall.




2. John Marshall and the Heroic Age of the Supreme Court written by R. Kent Newmyer is a biography about the fourth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Marshall. This is not just an ordinary biography, but a biography with feeling, deep understanding andcomprehensive knowledge of Marshall.

   This book is, by far, the most extraordinary biography, and paints a portrait of Chief Justice Marshall, the man, with perception and details , at the same time the author does an exhaustive biography of the jurisprudence of the Marshall Court.

   John Marshall, (1801-1835) was appointed to the Supreme Court by John Adams as he was leaving office. A last minute appointment and second cousin to Thomas Jefferson, Marshall served in some of the most formative years that the has ever seen. Marshall wanted to bring the court into the central picture of the government and reigned in the court from the fringes of government, Consolidating the authority of the court making the Supreme Court the final arbitor when it came to constitutional.

   John Marshall was a man equal to Jefferson when it came to the challenges of office and was equally skilled at the crafting law that supported the emerging American market economy. It was Jefferson and Marshall, however who symbolized and personalized the competing constitutional persuasions of the age and brought them into explosive focus. Each had taken a stand on the great foreign and domestic issues of the 1790's; each had conflated those issues into a dispute over the meaning of the Constitution. When fate and ambition made Jefferson president and Marshall chief justice, the institutional stage was set for what is one of the most creative confrontations in American constitutional history. At stake was not just the position of the Supreme Court in American government but the place of law in republican culture.

   Can you imagine being there when Marshall was giving the oath of office to Jefferson... when the new chief justice administered the oath of office to the new president on March 4, 1801. With his hand on the Bible held by Marshall, Jefferson swore to uphold the Constitution, Marshall was sure sure he was about to destroy.

   This book has an engaging narrative and you seem to read the information quickly and with ease, the author's prose is extremely well-written. As for the historical information it is spot-on even the court cases are found on a listing in the back of the book. Marshall was more than a chief justice, he was priciple in the forming a United States. Marshall's institutional accomplishments are found in this impressive study. For a one volume book... this is the most comprehensive... Marshall was the most representative figure in American law. This book is well worth the money ans should be in the library of all who study American History.




3. Maybe I'm getting spoiled with the recent output of historical profiles that have the narrative quality of great fiction, like Caro's LBJ series, Chernow on Hamilton, and McCullough's books on our founding. Given that high bar, Newmyer's history of Marshall is a very difficult read.
   
   This book plods along. When discussing a principle the court dealt with Newmyer often makes it impossible to keep track of what year or even decade he's referring to, making it difficult to put the principles discussed into the proper context, especially political context. I also felt the book was very biased, glorifying his conservative nationalism without really defining why his brand of nationalism should be considered conservative rather than liberal or even non-ideological.
   
   This book would prove helpful in a Constitutional Law class discussing certain principles and their historical development, especially the rise of Corporations, but only with the guidance of a Professor who knows the era and Marshall's court well and only in small doses. I'm a sucker for books about our founding ideals and the history of our framers, but this was torture and with no obligation to finish this book, I finally gave up about ¾ of the way through, which I rarely do.



4. Newmyer does a masterful work with his book `John Marshall and the Heroic Age of the Supreme Court'. This is more that just a standard history of John Marshall. Newmyer focuses on the legal nuances of Marshall's opinions and also the complexity of his mature jurisprudence during the development of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court was then and is still today overshadowed more by Marshall than any other Justice. Marshall was the conservative nationalist who envisioned a theory of "Cooperative Federalism" between the States and the Federal Courts. He felt that the Constitution was not a code of laws but a written document that declared itself to be the supreme law of the land. He sought to keep constitutional questions, of a legal nature, the exclusive right of the Supreme Court and not left up to the States and the political parties of the day. This placed him at odds with Jefferson and would result in a decade long battle to make constitutional interpretation the business of lawyers and judges not politicians. Marshall feared localized states representative's potential abuse of power. He considered the Union to be in danger from states interpreting the Constitution with all their associated cultural localisms. Newmyer unfolds Marshall belief that "the states constitute parts of the Union; they are members of one great empire, sometimes sovereign, sometimes subordinate". His vision was to make the court a legal institution guided by legal interpretation and avoid politics. Combining this with fair-minded judges aided by time-tested rules of interpretation, to ascertain the meaning of constitutional language, would resolve every major national or states issue. Marshall's Supreme Court constitutional interpretation monopoly was not to be. Times and doctrines were to change or even evaporate away removing the Court from the center of government and placing it, not ahead, but competing along side the other government branches. Jefferson/Jacksonian democracy would prevail over Marshall's conservatism. However Marshall's stamp on American law would be forever made as well as his help in laying the foundation for the sound establishment of the Constitution.
   
   There is a lot to digest and consider in the book. Newmyer expects readers to start this book with a good base knowledge of the Constitution and other documents like the Judicial Act of 1789 etc. This was one area where I felt the footnotes could have helped and covered better. Newmyer does a great job in weaving Marshall's common sense straight-forward personality into this study. From judicial review down through contracts law, a picture of Marshall emerges. Here is the Federalist Statesman, Common-law Lawyer, Revolutionary Soldier, Lawyer-legislator, Ratifier of the Constitution and Virginia's son. Well worth reading and adding to the history shelf.

3 comments about Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery.

1. A friend of mine once described slave narratives as the equivalent of the library of a foreign culture. Reading one is embarrassingly simplistic. Consider Botkin's book a whirlwind tour. Although I believe every American should be exposed to these narratives (above and beyond the historical representations from textbooks), the stories in Lay My Burden Down are so powerful, so full of intensity, I gave the book 4 stars because it is almost brutal in its power. The humor of the first sections soon fades, and the grim truths of slavery become more and more difficult to face. Proceed, but with caution.



2. I read "Lay My Burden Down" by B.A. Botkin, almost forty years ago. Botkin's collection of these narrative is indeed a national resource. It's a great book for researches of American History. People of every ethnicity should read this book. These narratives so confirmed the slave stories passed down from my great grandparents when I was a child, that I was overwhelmed for a while. The ex-slaves spoke freely about what freedom meant to them. Moreover, they spoke about how the lack of freedom made thier lives a living hell. The first portion of narratives illustrate that nothing, not even slavery can blot out humor or the opportunity to find joy in some aspect of life. One felt like rejoicing when slaves excaped thier horrific exsistence. Then, there was lasting sorrow tinged with hope for the ones who were not freed until the end of slavery in 1965 or a few years after.



3. Editor and compiler B. A. Botkin wrote the first of its kind comiliaton of the over 3000 interviews of ex-enslaved African Americans done by the WPA in the 1930s. As the subtitle suggests, he provides "A Folk History of Slavery." Read excerpts from first hand accounts of the horrors of slavery and of the remarkable resilience of the enslaved. For a more detailed compilation (those contained here are brief snippets) consider Blassingame's "Slave Testimony").
   
   Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction." He has also authored "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and the forthcoming "Sacred Friendships: Listening to the Voices of Women Soul Care-Givers and Spiritual Directors."

No comments about A Divided Heart: Letters of Sally Baxter Hampton, 1853-1862.

5 comments about Was Jefferson Davis Right?.

1. "Some of the statements seem particularly misguided, for example, the assertion the the Bill or Rights applies only to Federal actions, not state actions!" (I know what you are thinking, this is not my typo, it belongs to Mr. Connelly.) Mr. Connelly, I am writing to inform you "the the Bill or Rights" did originally apply to Federal actions only. It was not until the previous century and the latter part of the one before it did this change. The blame for this can be placed on an activist U.S. Supreme Court of the time.

   Now that this is out of the way, I can say that this is an excellent book for anyone who is Pro-South. I myself found it very pleasing to read and I feel that others will to. It is full of interesting facts that you just can not find in other books. The Kennedy brothers have, as they have done before, written a great book.




2. This book is: 1. A book that opens up bringing Jeff Davis to life telling us of his lifes joys and sorrows. His adventures and his sufferings. His victories and his defeats. 2. It vindicates Davis's character and faith shrugging off the lies told about him as well as John Edsmoe vindicates the Founding Fathers in "Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of our Founding Fathers" 3. It provides some solid Constitutional points Davis and his countrymen made about states rights and secession. Davis was definatly NOT a traitor. 4. It shows the reader that the issue of slavery was not as cut and dry as television and movies would have us believe. Not everyone who owned slaves was a cruel barbaric beast. And just because the Abolitionists were called abolitionists does not mean they were interested in the well being of black people. In fact they, like the Environmentalists and Anti-Smoking crowd today, were just using the issue as a vehicle to gain control wealth and power. A great book



3. I found this book interesting. I'm an amateur historian with great interest on the Civil War and the leaders from both sides. I originally bought this book looking for more information on the Biographay and beliefs of Jefferson Davis. It does provide some insight into who he was but REMEMBER WHEN READING the authors' state that it is a defense of Jefferson Davis and what he stood for. Therefore this book definately has a slant toward defending and sugar coating who Jefferson Davis was.

   The book is a defense of State Rights (and decentralized government) as opposed to a strong centralized government. Wether you support one idea or the other this book is definately worth reading to get a different point of view.

   For historical reading on Jefferson Davis read his own writings and speeches from his life and service to the United States and then the Confederate States.




4. This book provides a defense of the southern cause. Slavery was a sympton of the civil war, but not it's direct cause. Although the book's intention is to defend Jefferson Davis and the CSA, it does provide some very thought provoking information concerning Abraham Lincoln, the origins of today's Republican party and an authorative central government. It is a worthwhile read for anyone looking to find the second edge to the sword. There is much more to America's bloodiest war, and most of it are skeleton's buried deep in the closet of Abraham Lincoln and the heroism associated with his deeds.



5. History has not been kind to Jefferson Davis. This is especially true now with the current wave of politically correct motivated attacks on him. The Kennedy brothers seek to rectify this by placing him under a mock trial charged with treason against the United States government. Incidentally, Davis repeatly asked for this trial which the U.S. government refused based on recommendation of their legal counsel.
   Most Davis critics know very little about him. An excellent biography introduces him to the reader. The Kennedy's present the questioning and motives of his federal accusers and offer a stalwart defense in his behalf. Decide for yourself if he was guilty or innocent of treason.
   Also, included in addendum are informative documents relative to the period and subject.
   When Jefferson Davis died in 1889 the South mourned. Thousands upon thousands of people of all races and walks of life attended his funeral and processions. The South still loved and respected their president.

2 comments about Ella Baker: Freedom Bound.

1. More than any other single figure, Ella Baker represents the heart and soul of the civil rights movement at its highest and best. Starting earlier than most any other central leader, Ms. Baker was instrumental in sparking more of the major events in civil rights history than any other. Yet always working as the behind the scenes organizer and pushing others forward, particularly grassroots and youthful leaders, Ms. Baker is probably the least known outside the movement. No more important task exists than preserving her memory and Joanne Grant has done an excellent job in this important book. Even insiders will be surprised at what they'll learn in this comprehensive account. A great followup to Joanne's earlier documentary: Fundi - The Life of Ella Baker. Ms. Baker is universally revered among movement people for her wisdom, courage and acute political analysis that taught and guided thousands. Truly she was as close to a real saint as this world produces and to! ! uched her times in the most redemptive and revolutionary way.



2. Everyone has heard of Martin Luther King, but few remember what Ella Baker did. Baker helped to develop the civil rights movement by working at the grass roots level with the NAACP and SCLC but, since she worked outside of the spotlight, she has received little credit for her accomplishments. Known to most activists of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, Baker is well-deserving of a biography and this is particularly well-written one. More information about her private life could have been included though.

1 comments about Continental Liar from the State of Maine: James G. Blaine.

1. Written by prize-winning historian and former Maine politician Neil Rolde, Continental Liar From the State of Maine: James G. Blaine is the true story of the American presidential campaign of 1884, the so-called "dirtiest campaign in American history", when Republican James G. Blaine came within 1,047 votes of becoming president. Yet his career, as spectacular as any of the "Gilded Age", did not end there; he served twice as U.S. secretary of state, became a Speaker of the House of Congress, and a U.S. senator for his adopted state of Maine. Credited with initiating America's progression down the path to acting like a world power, Blaine's unofficial nicknames ranged from "The Plumed Knight" to "Slippery Jim" to "The Continental Liar from the State of Maine." A singularly fascinating biography of a shrewd, powerful, charismatic politician who dominated the American stage from just before the Civil War to nearly the turn of the century, Continental Liar From the State of Maine is a fascinating read from cover to cover, offering insights into political leadership, scandal, and backdoor dealing that are as applicable today as they were over a hundred years ago.

1 comments about The Men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Biographical Roster of the Fifty-one Members and a Composite Diary of Their Activities from All Known Sources (Lewis & Clark Expedition).

1. 
   This book is basically in two parts: the first is a listing of all 51 men associated with the L & C expedition and their biographies (most are very short since little or nothing could be learned about them); the second, and much longer part, is a reproduction of those sections in the Journals that mention specific men and their roles. Clarke believes that "as the men are rather lost in the maze of descriptive matter found [in the Journals], the aim of this condensation is to bring them back into sight." He has therefore culled the original journals, not only of Lewis and Clark, but also of Gass, Ordway, Floyd, and Whitehouse, seeking out the names and activities of the expedition's members. It's an interesting approach to the records of the expedition: in studying the original journals with all their mention of miles traveled, campsite locations, weather highlights, etc., it's easy to forget that it's a body of men who are performing this monumental task of exploration. Jefferson wanted the diarists to record "the facts"; this account adds the human element to those facts. A most interesting book.

No comments about John Brown Gordon: Soldier Southerner American (Southern Biography Series).

5 comments about John Fitzgerald Kennedy: A Life In Pictures.

1. This collection of over 300 pages of the usual suspected photographs, as well as many unseen or rare ones, was published to commemorate the passing of 40 years since our 35th President was vicously cut down in his prime.

   The layout of the photographs is great. You see JFK throughout his life, from childhood, to Presidencey and every passing moment between. The photos are powerful, moving, show glamour and fun, you see a politician throughout his political career, you see a loving father, son, brother and husband. I have had quite a few photo books on JFk, but this is by far the best and most desirable one I have seen.

   This photograph book would make a wonderful and truly appriciated gift for anyone who has any respect, love or interest in JFK. My sister is a huge JFK fan, she had a bust of him on our dresser growing up.

   The price on Amazon, is as always, unbeatable. I saw this at a bookstore tonight for the full price.




2. "John Fitzgerald Kennedy:A Life in Pictures"is a great way to remember President Kennedy.I'm a young,strong admirer of President Kennedy,and not only are there great pictures of Kennedy,there is a biography of Kennedy with speeches he made,including the speech he was going to make on November 22,1963.The best pictures are of Kennedy with Herbert Hoover and a picture of Jack Kennedy with his daughter Caroline and his niece Maria Shriver.I have seen a bunch of great Kennedy photos,and if you ever want the best Kennedy photo,buy Robert Stack's autobiography "Straight Shooting"and see the picture of Stack and Kennedy. "John Fitzgerald Kennedy:A Life In Pictures"is a must read for all Kennedy fans and even all non-Kennedy fans.



3. I highly recommend this book, primarily for the great picutures of JFK. This 40th anniversary volume succeeds in presenting many rare and never-before-seen photos. I especially like the ones depicting Secret Service agent Gerald Blaine on the rear of the limousine in Italy 7/63. Get this!
   [...]



4. This is a great picture book. I have almost every Kennedy family picture book available. I just happen to come across it in a bookstore near my home. I paid $19.99 for it, pretty good price. You can get here for about $16-17 but remember you have to pay shipping. So it comes out to more but it is soo worth it. When you are going through these pics its like being taken back in time. I'm pretty young my mom was born in 1957 so she was about Caroline's age when these pics were taken.



5. This is not the best book about JFK I have ever read, but it is up there. I like the pictures on pages 16 (all) 20, 173, 192-199, 268-275, and 242-258. This book is recommended for any Kennedy fan of all ages.

5 comments about The Life of Daniel Boone.

1. Lyman Draper wrote the single best account of the life of Daniel Boone. This source, while not well known, has been mined by virtually every biographer of Boone since 1850. This book and the biography of John Bakeless are the best two volumes ever to appear about the life of Daniel Boone. Also the Memoirs of Nathan Boone and his wife are of extreme value. These books provide the basis for the study of early Kentucky history.



2. Wanted to read this book as a celebration of Daniels life Yet I found it to be long statements made directly following his death It is told that none ventured into writing of this man during his life I guess that makes it appealing The man had big family and was known to beat the Indians at there own gam that I found Admirable the book on a whole was simply a bore due to the accounts of how Boone tryed to purchase this or that But to those who want to build homesteads in the 1800s It will be to your liking



3. This is the one to get. This one, and John Mack Faragher's BOONE biography (Henry Holt, 1992). Anything by Belue is worth getting; he is precise to the point of obsession, and his works--four thus far--will stand the test of time.



4. I have to say this book is just wonderful! It is great as a casual read as well as excellent for the researcher and/or family historian! It helped me to fill some gaps in my families history (Daniel's sister, Sarah Boone) and gave other avenues in which to reasearch.



5. Occasionally a book that has been available for a while deserves another look just because of its intrinsic value. In 1998 a book was published that combined the names of two legendary individuals who will be associated forever with the history of the American backwoods-Daniel Boone, the famous adventurer, and Lyman C. Draper, the renowned nineteenth-century interviewer and collector. It was only through the painstaking efforts of editor Ted Franklin Belue that Draper's highly significant tome on Boone finally came into being a century and a half after it was started. Before the ink was dry on the printed page, this book had become a backcountry classic. It instantly went to the front rank of Boone biographies. For the previous hundred years few but the serious historian had been drawing from Draper's handwritten manuscript on Boone; now even the casual reader would have the material readily available in print. Despite the fact that Draper never finished writing the biography and didn't take Boone's exploits beyond 1778, The Life of Daniel Boone (596 pages hardcover, $39.95, Stackpole Books) has proven to be well worth the long wait.
   The book is a treasure trove of information about Boone, including such highlights as: his early years in Pennsylvania and North Carolina; activities during the French and Indian War; hunting in the Appalachian region; long hunting in Kentucky; adventures in Dunmore's War; the establishment of Boonesborough; and the first half of the Revolutionary War in Kentucky. While perusing these pages, the reader will be reminded constantly of Draper's monumental research that involved extensive travel to obtain interviews with people who had known Boone personally or with relatives and friends of such individuals. He also endeavored to collect important documents before they disappeared. His efforts were literally a race against time. Belue sets a standard for excellence with his very interesting preface as well as his editor's note (following the preface) that explains how the book finally came into being. The outstanding notes at the end of each chapter by both Draper and Belue are a further wealth of information. Draper's 44-page appendix provides a Boone genealogy and biographical sketches of many other frontier figures.
   From Smoke & Fire News, November 2004, by Bob Holden