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Tables of Contents for A People's History of the Supreme Court
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
Foreword
v
Howard Zinn
Introduction: ``The Genius of the Constitution''
xiii
Section I: ``To Establish a More Perfect Union''
1
82
``Morally Sinful by the Word of God''
3
14
The law of the colonial era and its treatment of religious dissenters, women, blacks, and Indians
``The Exigencies of the Union''
17
10
The Constitutional Convention meets in 1787; James Madison and the Virginia Plan
``Dishonorable to the National Character''
27
9
The Framers debate the powers of Congress; the Great Compromise over slavery
``The Supreme Law of the Land''
36
12
The Framers debate executive power and establish the Supreme Court
``The Country Must Finally Decide''
48
11
The Framers debate a bill of rights; the final drafting and signing of the Constitution
``The Plot Thickens Fast''
59
10
The states debate and ratify the Constitution
``The Nauseous Project of Amendments''
69
14
The First Congress debates a bill of rights; the states ratify the first ten amendments
Section II: ``It Is a Constitution We Are Expounding''
83
72
``The Court Is Now Sitting''
85
11
Establishing the Supreme Court; its first sessions and members
``To Say What the Law Is''
96
12
Congress passes the Sedition Act; Chief Justice John Marshall and judicial power
``These Jarring and Discordant Judgments''
108
13
The impeachment of Justice Samuel Chase; conflicts between federal and state powers
``The Good and the Wise''
121
16
Federal power over the states; the Court construes the Contract Clause
``Great, Good, and Excellent Man!''
137
18
The Court first confronts slavery; Chief Justice Marshall dies and Roger Taney takes over
Section III: ``Justly and Lawfully Be Reduced to Slavery''
155
78
``A Small, Pleasant-Looking Negro''
157
11
The background of the Dred Scott case and the legal rights of blacks
``Beings of an Inferior Order''
168
11
The Court decides that blacks are not citizens and have no legal rights
``Another Explosion Will Soon Come''
179
11
Reaction to the Dred Scott decision; the Lincoln--Douglas debates and the Civil War
``A Higher Law Than the Constitution''
190
16
Congress adopts and the states ratify the Civil War amendments
``An Evil Eye and an Unequal Hand''
206
15
The Civil Rights Act of 1875; the disputed presidential election of 1876
``Our Constitution Is Color-Blind''
221
12
The Court confronts the Jim Crow system of racial segregation
Section IV: ``Liberty in a Social Organization''
233
98
``The Spectre of Socialism''
235
13
The laissez-faire Constitution and the challenge of socialism and populism
``The Work Was Light and Healthful''
248
17
The rights of workers and regulation of the workplace
``Falsely Shouting Fire in a Theatre''
265
17
World War I, the Sedition Act, and free speech rights
``Every Idea Is an Incitement''
282
12
The Court reacts to the Red Scare that followed the war
``The General Welfare of the United States''
294
13
The Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt, and the New Deal in court
``To Save the Constitution from the Court''
307
11
Roosevelt's court-packing plan and the Constitutional Revolution of 1937
``Hughes Thundered Out the Decision''
318
13
The demise of the laissez-faire Constitution; Roosevelt packs the Court with New Dealers
Section V: ``Beyond the Reach of Majorities''
331
90
``We Live by Symbols''
333
15
Footnote Four and the Jehovah's Witnesses cases
``A Jap's Jap''
348
17
The wartime internment of Japanese Americans and the redress movement
``My Little Soul Is Overjoyed''
365
18
The NAACP campaign against segregation; the Communist Party in the courts
``Give Me the Colored Doll''
383
12
The school segregation cases
``War on the Constitution''
395
14
The Brown decisions and the Little Rock insurrection against judicial authority
``A Better Place Because He Lived''
409
12
The Warren Court and the Bill of Rights
Section VI: ``A Right of Personal Privacy''
421
60
``You've Been Taking Pure Thalidomide''
423
13
The Court deals with procreation
``The Raw Edges of Human Existence''
436
14
The issue of abortion
``Truly a Pandora's Box''
450
14
Affirmative action and gay rights
``I Fear for the Future''
464
17
The Court divides over abortion, flag burning, and affirmative action
Epilogue: ``How to Treat Other People''
481
4
United States Constitution
485
17
The Justices of the Supreme Court
502
5
Notes
507
19
Sources for Further Reading
526
5
Index
531