Brad Hansen’s Reviews > Lincoln's Constitution > Status Update

The first chapter on Lincoln’s executive power was good. Showed how most of what he did was justifiable by looking backward and forward in American jurisprudence.

The chapter on coercion seemed more like an extension on the question of the legality of secession. It does strike me as interesting the extent to which secession is NOT supported in the Constitution but also how little is said about how one can quell secession.

The chapter on the legality/constitutional arguments regarding secession were illuminating and instructive in the prescient legal arguments of the day. Also, the comparison of Jefferson Davis with Clarence Thomas made me chuckle.

The chapter on the supreme law of the land is fascinating in the way it develops the various interests of people like Jefferson and John Marshall and the ways the used their positions to pull the constitution and federal government closer to their ideologies.

The chapter on sovereignty is great. Lays out the spectrum of (3) views and how they could each appeal to different parts of the constitution and period of the founding. The analogy of the UN was helpful.