The Evangelical Origins of the Living Constitution

272 Pages·2014·1.51 MB·English

by  John W. Compton

Te Evangelical Origins of
the Living Constitution
Te Evangelical Origins of
the Living Constitution
John W. Compton
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
2014
Copyright © 2014 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Compton, John W., 1977- author.
T e evangelical origins of the living constitution / John W. Compton.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-674-72679-6 (alk. paper)
1. Religion and law—United States—History. 2. Evangelicalism—
United States—History—19th century. 3. Constitutional law—United
States—History. 4. United States—Religion. 5. Church and
state—United States—History. I. Title.
KF4869.E93C66 2014
342.7302’9—dc23 2013029764
For Heidi
Contents
Introduction 1
1. T e Evangelical Challenge to American Constitutionalism 19
2. Moral Reform and Constitutional Adjudication, 1830–1854 52
3. T e Triumph of Evangelical Public Morality in the States 73
4. T e Triumph of Evangelical Public Morality in the Supreme Court 91
5. Reexamining the Collapse of the Old Order 133
Conclusion: T e Evangelical Origins of the
Modern Constitutional Order 177
Notes 185
Acknowledgments 253
Index 255
Te Evangelical Origins of
the Living Constitution