Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States

by Joseph Story, Kermit Roosevelt III (Foreword)

Joseph Story's famous and influential review of the origins, influences, and early interpretations of the Constitution is now presented in the author's own 1833 Abridged Edition—considered the most useful and readable version of this important work, from the Supreme Court's youngest Justice. No other ebook version offers the accessible abridged form, and in proper digital format no less. The Legal Legends edition adds a 2013 introduction by Kermit Roosevelt III.

One of the United States' most influential legal scholars and jurists wrote his landmark treatise before the Civil War, describing federalism, states' history, freedoms, and constitutional structure. He abridged it into this usable book. Adding a new and informative Foreword by constitutional scholar Kermit Roosevelt of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, the quality Quid Pro edition features active Contents, proper ebook formatting, and embedded pagination from the original, for continuity of referencing and citation. Professor Roosevelt catalogs many instances in which the current Court has relied on this book to decide issues of gun rights, federalism, and privacy. In addition, he provides a fascinating biographical summary of Story and describes the origins of this monumental work, as well as the influence it has had on legal history since 1833.

Part of the Legal Legends Series from Quid Pro Books. The series also includes legendary works, in quality ebook and print formats, from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis, Roscoe Pound, Benjamin Cardozo, Thomas Reed Powell, John Chipman Gray, Woodrow Wilson, and Karl Llewellyn. These editions are introduced and explained by today's recognized scholars in the field, and they exhibit a care in proofreading and presentation often lacking in modern republications of historic work.

Genres: Law, History, Nonfiction, Legal, American History, Politics

442 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 8, 2015

About the author

American lawyer who served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1811 to 1845. He is most remembered for his opinions in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee and The Amistad case, and especially for his magisterial Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States.
Story opposed Jacksonian democracy, saying it was "oppression" of property rights by republican governments when popular majorities began (in the 1830s) to restrict and erode the property rights of the minority of rich men. Historians agree that Justice Joseph Story reshaped American law—as much or more than Marshall or anyone else—in a conservative direction that protected property rights.

Reviews

[Aaron Crofut · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent primer on the Federalist Party's viewpoint of the Constitution. It unintentionally obliterates the Originalist idea of interpreting the Constitution, though, unless we are to understand the 1st Amendment allows the government to promote Christianity (but no particular sect of it).

Clearly not a fan of slavery.

700 pages, and this is the abridged version meant for high school students! I don't think many high school or college students today would make it all the way through, but excerpts from this book could definitely prove useful in the classroom.

[Craig Bolton]

Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States by Joseph Story (1991)