Thirteenth Amendment and American Freedom

Alexander Tsesis is Assistant Professor at at the Loyola University School of Law, Chicago.

• 1 Slavery and Its Social Penetration A. Slavery and the Founding Generation B. Slavery as a Cultural Institution C. Centrality of Slavery in Sectional Con?icts 2 On the Road to Rati?cation A. Emancipation by Statute and Proclamation B. Congressional Debates on the Thirteenth Amendment's Meaning C. The Immediate Aftermath of Liberation 1. What Sort of Freedom? 2. Legal Protections 3 End of Radical Ideals and Judicial Response A. Political Abandonment of Reconstruction B. Supreme Court Abandonment of Reconstruction 1. Early Opinions 2. Relinquishment of Thirteenth Amendment Principles C. A Ray of Hope: Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer D. Summing Up 4 Summing Up and Looking Ahead 5 Theoretical Foundation A. Abolition and Natural Rights B. Thirteenth Amendment and Universal Liberty 6 Thirteenth Amendment and Constitutional Rights A. Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment FreedomsB. Source for Substantive Freedom C. Commerce Clause and Thirteenth Amendment 7 Contemporary Settings A. Confederate Symbols 1. National Symbolism 2. Peculiarities of Confederate Symbols 3. Revival of Confederate Symbolism 4. Federal Authority B. Hate Crimes C. Contemporary Instances of Peonage Conclusion

For those looking for arguments to revitalize and expand the use of the Thirteenth Amendment, this is an interesting piece of advoacacy. (Journal of American History) Alexander Tsesis's invigorating reevaluation of the Thirteenth Amendment agrees with many Lincoln Republicans that it embraced the Declaration of Independence. - Harold Hyman,Rice University Tsesis vigorously presents a set of arguments that are rarely found in the conventional legal literature. . . . an interesting and challenging book. - Sanford Levinson,University of Texas Law School ...audacious and original. He (Tsesis) offers a blueprint as to how desperately needed reforms...can come about. - Richard Delgado (Michigan Law Review) [A] comprehensive and brilliant book from both a historical and analytical perspective. Drawing from the lessons of history, Alexander Tsesis shows persuasively the relevance of the Thirteenth Amendment to a wide range of the social and economic issues currently facing America, and he offers highly creative arguments that support the use of congressional power under the Thirteenth Amendment as a potent and effective means of meeting and resolving these issues. - G. Sidney Buchanan,Baker & Botts Chaired Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center