BERNARD SCHWARTZ. American Constitutional Law. Pp. xiv, 364. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1955. $5.00
| Author | Charles G. Fenwick |
| Published date | 01 March 1956 |
| Date | 01 March 1956 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000271625630400131 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
156
Frontier,&dquo;
’‘The
Fabric
of
Pittsburgh.&dquo;
There
are
also
a
Postscript,
four
illustra-
tions,
a
bibliography,
an
appendix,
and
an
excellent
index.
&dquo;Through
these
early
wills
we
today
can
know
the
social
background
of
the
frontier
-the
dress,
the
business,
the
economic
situation
when
whiskey
was
an
honored
medium
of
exchange;
when
soldiers’
bo-
nuses
were
bartered
for
land
grants;
when
slaves
were
bought
and
sold
and
bequeathed
to
friends
and
relatives
or
set
free
to
make
their
own
new
lives&dquo;
(p.
xi).
In
the
early
days
of
western
Pennsyl-
vania,
there
were
three
kinds
of
labor:
free
labor,
indentured
servants,
and
negro
slaves.
However,
in
March
1780
an
act
was
passed
which
provided
for
the
&dquo;gradual
abolition
of
slavery&dquo;
in
the
state.
On
these
pages
the
author
makes
two
incorrect
statements:
&dquo;Up
until
1820,
when
the
Missouri
Com-
promise
made
slavery
illegal
in
Pennsyl-
vania
and
in
certain
other
states,
anyone
who
could
afford
to
buy
slaves
could
own
them
and
could
dispose
of
them
as
he
chose&dquo;
(p.
92).
On
the
next
page
the
au-
thor
repeats
the
error:
&dquo;And
forty
years
later,
in
1820,
the
Missouri
Compromise
prohibited
slavery
entirely
in
Pennsylvania
and
other
states
north
of
36
degrees
30
minutes
north
latitude&dquo;
(p.
93).
The
Congress
of
the
United
States
could
not
have
constitutionally
abolished
slavery
in
any
of
the
states
wherein
the
institution
existed;
therefore,
after
providing
for
the
admission
of
Maine
as
a
free
state,
the
Missouri
Compromise
applied
only
to
the
territory
within
the
bounds
of
the
Louisi-
ana
purchase.
The
book,
however,
makes
an
important
contribution
to
American
social
and
eco-
nomic
history.
GEORGE
D.
HARMON
Lehigh
University
BERNARD
SCHWARTZ.
American
Constitu-
tional
Law.
Pp.
xiv,
364.
New
York:
Cambridge
University
Press,
1955.
$5.00.
Case
books
on
American
constitutional
law
we
have
in
abundance,
a
number
of
them
accompanied
by
excellent
notes
giving
the
background
of
the
particular
case
and
the
conditions
under
which
it
was
decided.
But
treatises
on
constitutional
law,
in
which
the
political
philosophy
of
the
law
is
discussed
and
the
development
of
the
law
from
case
to
case
is
analyzed
and
criti-
cized,
are
lacking,
doubtless
because
of
the
very
arduous
task
of
writing
them.
It
is
just
such
a
treatise
that
Professor
Schwartz
has
given
us,
and
lawyers
and
teachers
alike
will
give
a
warm
welcome
to
it.
While
not
cast
in
the
form
of
a
text-
book
and
not
covering
all
of
the
possible
topics
of
constitutional
law,
it
gives
us
a
clear
picture
first
of
the
fundamental
prin-
ciples
and
organic
structure
of
government
under
the
Constitution
and
then
proceeds
to
show
the
changes
that
have
been
taking
place
in
recent
years
resulting
from
the
necessity
of
enabling
the
government
to
meet
the
particular
problems
with
which
it
is
confronted.
The
analysis
of
individual
cases
is
care-
ful
and
impartial,
particularly
so
in
dealing
with
controversial
issues,
such
as
the
ex-
tension
of
the
powers
of
Congress
over
interstate
commerce,
the
scope
of
the
treaty-making
power,
and
the
role
of
the
Supreme
Court
in
applying
the
amendments
dealing
with
human
rights.
Two
chapters
concentrate
upon
&dquo;The
Negro
and
the
Law&dquo;
and
&dquo;Civil
Liberties
and
the
’cold
war’
&dquo;,
both
presenting
a
detached
interpretation
of
what
appears
to
the
reviewer
as
the
undue
assumption
by
the
Supreme
Court
of
legislative
functions.
The
purpose
of
the
volume
is
described
as
being
&dquo;to
present
the
workings
of
the
American
system
of
constitutional
law
to
a
British
audience,&dquo;
suggesting
that
it
con-
sists
of
lectures
delivered
at
the
University
of
Cambridge
by
whose
press
it
is
pub-
lished.
The
result
is
that
there
are
nu-
merous
comparative
references
to
British
practice
and
to
the
decisions of
British
courts
in
cases
analogous
to
those
arising
under
the
American
Constitution-a
feature
which
will
be
greatly’
appreciated
by
stu-
dents
of
political
science.
Professor
Schwartz
is
to
be
congratulated
on
a
work
of
scholarly
research
and
sound
critical
judgment.
It
should
prove
to
be
admirable
supplementary
reading
in
courses
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