Monitoring American Federalism: The History of State Legislative Resistance

425 Pages·2023·2.434 MB·English

by  Christian G. Fritz

MonitoringAmericanFederalism
MonitoringAmericanFederalismexaminessomeofthenation’smost
significantcontroversiesinwhichstatelegislatureshaveattemptedtobe
active partners in the process of constitutional decision-making.
ChristianG.Fritzlooksatinterposition,whichisthepracticeofstates
opposing federal government decisions that were deemed unconstitu-
tional.Interpositionbecameamuch-usedconstitutionaltooltomoni-
torthefederalgovernmentandorganizeresistance,beginningwiththe
Constitution’sratificationandcontinuingthroughthepresentaffecting
issuesincludingguncontrol,immigration,andhealthcare.Thoughthe
use of interposition was largely abandoned because of its association
withnullificationandtheCivilWar,recentinterestremindsusthatthe
federalgovernmentcannotrunroughshodoverstates,andthatstates
lack any legitimatepower to nullify federal laws.Insightfuland com-
prehensive, this appraisal of interposition breaks new ground in
Americanpoliticalandconstitutionalhistory,andcanhelpuspreserve
ourconstitutionalsystemanddemocracy.
ChristianG.FritzisEmeritusProfessorofLawattheUniversityofNew
MexicoSchoolofLaw.HeistheauthorofAmericanSovereigns:The
PeopleandAmerica’sConstitutionalTraditionbeforetheCivilWar.
Published online by Cambridge University Press
SeetheStudiesinLegalHistoryserieswebsiteat
http://studiesinlegalhistory.org/
StudiesinLegalHistory
EDITORS
LisaFord,UniversityofNewSouthWales
SarahBarringerGordon,UniversityofPennsylvania
ThomasMcSweeney,William&MaryLawSchool
ReuelSchiller,UniversityofCalifornia,HastingsCollegeoftheLaw
TaisuZhang,YaleLawSchool
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E. Claire Cage, The Science of Proof: Forensic Medicine in Modern
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GentlemeninMassachusetts,1690–1776
Edgardo Pérez Morales, Unraveling Abolition: Legal Culture and
SlaveEmancipationinColombia
Lyndsay Campbell, Truth and Privilege: Libel Law in Massachusetts
andNovaScotia,1820–1840
Sara M. Butler, Pain, Penance, and Protest: Peine Forte et Dure in
MedievalEngland
Michael Lobban, Imperial Incarceration: Detention without Trial in
theMakingofBritishColonialAfrica
Stefan Jurasinski and Lisi Oliver, The Laws of Alfred: The Domboc
andtheMakingofAnglo-SaxonLaw
Sascha Auerbach, Armed with Sword and Scales: Law, Culture, and
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Elizabeth Papp Kamali, Felony and the Guilty Mind in Medieval
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JessicaK.Lowe,MurderintheShenandoah:MakingLawSovereignin
RevolutionaryVirginia
Michael A. Schoeppner, Moral Contagion: Black Atlantic Sailors,
Citizenship,andDiplomacyinAntebellumAmerica
SamErman,AlmostCitizens:PuertoRico,theU.S.Constitution,and
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JeffersonDavis
EdwardJamesKolla,Sovereignty,InternationalLaw,andtheFrench
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andIsrael
RobertW.Gordon,TamingthePast:EssaysonLawandHistoryand
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PaulGarfinkel,CriminalLawinLiberalandFascistItaly
Michelle A. McKinley, Fractional Freedoms: Slavery, Intimacy, and
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MichaelA.Livingston,TheFascistsandtheJewsofItaly:Mussolini’s
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Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Monitoring American Federalism
The History of State Legislative Resistance
CHRISTIAN G. FRITZ
UniversityofNewMexico
Published online by Cambridge University Press
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education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781009325578
doi:10.1017/9781009325608
©ChristianG.Fritz2023
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisions
ofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytake
placewithoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress&Assessment.
Firstpublished2023
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJBooksLimited,PadstowCornwall
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isbn978-1-009-32557-8Hardback
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oraccuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhis
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accurateorappropriate.
Published online by Cambridge University Press
TomywifeMarleneandtoProfessorRobertMiddlekauff,
dedicatedscholarandteacher
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Contents
Acknowledgments pagex
Introduction 1
1 TheRiddleofFederalismandtheGenesisofInterposition 11
2 EarlyStateUseofInterposition:TestingthePowers
oftheNewNationalGovernment 39
3 StateInterpositionandDebatesovertheMeaningofthe
Constitution 66
4 TheVirginiaandKentuckyResolutionsandMadison’s
Reportof1800 91
5 StateInterpositionduringtheJeffersonandMadison
Presidencies 129
6 StateChallengestotheSupremeCourt’sControlover
ConstitutionalInterpretation 163
7 TheTransformationofInterposition:TheTheory
ofNullificationEmerges 196
8 StateInterpositionandNullificationonthePathtoSecession 227
9 StateInterpositionduringandaftertheCivilWar 257
10 ModernInterpositionbyStatesand“Nullification” 287
ListofAbbreviations 307
Notes 309
SelectedShortTitles 393
Index 401
ix
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