Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

The Forgotten Emancipator : James Mitchell Ashley and the Ideological Origins of Reconstruction, Paperback / softback Book

The Forgotten Emancipator : James Mitchell Ashley and the Ideological Origins of Reconstruction Paperback / softback

Part of the Cambridge Historical Studies in American Law and Society series

Paperback / softback

Description

Congressman James Mitchell Ashley, a member of the House of Representatives from 1858 to 1868, was the main sponsor of the Thirteenth Amendment to the American Constitution, which declared the institution of slavery unconstitutional.

Rebecca E. Zietlow uses Ashley's life as a unique lens through which to explore the ideological origins of Reconstruction and the constitutional changes of this era.

Zietlow recounts how Ashley and his antislavery allies shared an egalitarian free labor ideology that was influenced by the political antislavery movement and the nascent labor movement - a vision that conflicted directly with the institution of slavery.

Ashley's story sheds important light on the meaning and power of popular constitutionalism: how the constitution is interpreted outside of the courts and the power that citizens and their elected officials can have in enacting legal change.

The book shows how Reconstruction not only expanded racial equality but also transformed the rights of workers throughout America.

Information

Other Formats

Save 4%

£24.99

£23.79

 
Free Home Delivery

on all orders

 
Pick up orders

from local bookshops

Information

Also in the Cambridge Historical Studies in American Law and Society series  |  View all