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Gerard N. Magliocca
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American Founding Son: John Bingham and the Invention of the Fourteenth Amendment Hardcover – September 6, 2013

by Gerard N. Magliocca (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 38 ratings
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A history of the origins of the 14th Amendment and the the man who helped craft it

John Bingham was the architect of the rebirth of the United States following the Civil War. A leading antislavery lawyer and congressman from Ohio, Bingham wrote the most important part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees fundamental rights and equality to all Americans. He was also at the center of two of the greatest trials in history, giving the closing argument in the military prosecution of John Wilkes Booth’s co-conspirators for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and in the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. And more than any other man, Bingham played the key role in shaping the Union’s policy towards the occupied ex-Confederate States, with consequences that still haunt our politics.

American Founding Son provides the most complete portrait yet of this remarkable statesman. Drawing on his personal letters and speeches, the book traces Bingham’s life from his humble roots in Pennsylvania through his career as a leader of the Republican Party. Gerard N. Magliocca argues that Bingham and his congressional colleagues transformed the Constitution that the Founding Fathers created, and did so with the same ingenuity that their forbears used to create a more perfect union in the 1780s. In this book, Magliocca restores Bingham to his rightful place as one of our great leaders.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    NYU Press
  4. Publication date
    September 6, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    6.37 x 1.03 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0814761453
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0814761458
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"How this leading antislavery lawyer shaped Union policy vis-à-vis the defeated South and wrote most of the amendment guaranteeing equal rights to all Americans." ― American History

"For someone so involved with the watershed events of 19th-century US history, John A. Bingham has largely escaped modern scholars' notice, even in the current book of Civil War-era commemorations. This oversight is puzzling, since Bingham was a major political figure of his time, as Magliocca ably demonstrates...Magliocca takes readers through a learned yet accessible analysis of Bingham's legal and congressional careers, showing how Bingham's constitutional thought on citizenship, rights, and liberties evolved, climaxing with his drafting of the Fourteenth Amendment's preamble. Students of legal, constitutional, and Civil War-era history should read this fine volume on an important yet neglected figure." ― Choice

"This volume on Bingham made me rethink some things I thought I was taught in high school history class. Magliocca did a wonderful job of searching, often sparse records, in order to give a full-orbed view of political history in America. I feel like the legacy of a man like Bingham is often forgotten among those who have largely left the politics to highly paid professionals who sit on Washingtons hill. Its stories like these, a relatively no-name person from the middle of nowhere rising to power and changing history. We can all learn from Bingham, not only from his big wins, but from his losses as well. We should all be so concerned for freedom as Bingham was, it would make a small difference today which may change the pages of history hundreds of years down the road." ― Protestant Voices

"Professor Gerard Magliocca spares no detail in his comprehensive review of John Bingham's life and his drafting of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. For history buffs, constitutional scholars, and civil war experts, the book is a smorgasbord of facts about a critical period in America's history. The reader is taken step by step through the political and legal hurdles required to enact one of the most significant post-Bill of Rights provisions of our Constitution." ― Los Angeles Review of Books

"Given Binghams central role in the incorporation debate,American Founding Sonis long overdue. Scholars and lawyers who are interested in the incorporation debate eagerly have awaited this book. They will not be disappointed. [] [T]hose seeking to understand the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment will find a wealth of information in the pages ofAmerican Founding Son." ― Law and History Review

"Gerard Magliocca has done nearly as much as anyone could to resurrect John Bingham, and he has succeeded in making Bingham come alive as an important political player in the Civil War era. [H]e has certainly restored Bingham to a rightful place in Civil War political and legal history." -- Allen Guelzo ― The Wall Street Journal

"Gerard Magliocca has done the country a great service by writing the first biography of one of America's most important but under-appreciated statesmen. John Bingham, the father of the Fourteenth Amendment, helped put a guarantee of individual equality into the U.S. Constitution. In this important book, Magliocca tells the fascinating story of a crucial figure in our country's long struggle to establish justice and create a more perfect union." -- Jack M. Balkin,Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment, Yale Law School

"Gerard Magliocca makes the most of the sometimes scanty evidence to paint an illuminating portrait of Ohio Congressman John Bingham, the author of Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment and perhaps our most neglected 'framer' of the Constitution. From leading the impeachment prosecution of President Andrew Johnson, to serving as Ambassador to Japan, Bingham's life was fascinating. And so too is this book that every student of our constitutional history should read." -- Randy E. Barnett,Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory & Director, Georgetown Center for the Constitution

"Gerard Magliocca rescues John Bingham from his moment of fame as the author of the Fourteenth Amendment, and presents a nuanced understanding of his life and thought. An important contribution that provides deep insight into our constitutional tradition." -- Bruce Ackerman,Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University

"Gerard Magliocca traces Bingham's life from humble beginnings in Pennsylvania through his career as a leader of the Republican Party. This is an excellent examination of Bingham, who was a major force in shaping the America that emerged from the Civil War." -- Frank J. Williams ― Civil War News

"Magliocca has done valuable work in bringing to public attention the story of an interesting and important states-man of the mid-19th century. As an enemy of slavery and advocate for constitutional freedom, John Bingham has been too long neglected." -- Burrus M. Carnahan ― The Federal Lawyer

"Magliocca presents this evidence in a fine narrative, an excellent example of an intellectual biography. It preserves a chronological presentation, without obscuring the primacy of the subject's legal and political thoughts." -- David Upham ― Online Library of Law and Liberty

"This is a worthy biography that will illume...many of the controversies that surround interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment....Certainly, the picture that emerges from this book is much fuller than scholars have had to date." -- John R. Vile ― Law and Politics Book Review

"Until now, however, we have lacked an adequate biography of Bingham. This lacuna has just been filled by Gerard N. Magliocca. He dubs Bingham the 'Founding Son'the man who repaired the flawed work of the Founding Fathers and made equal citizen rights part of the Constitution. Without Bingham, writes Magliocca, there would have been no Fourteenth Amendment as we know it (186). His handiwork is the most important part of the Constitution. Bingham also coined that now-common phrase, the 'Bill of Rights.'" -- Daniel W. Crofts ― Civil War Book Review

"In this clearly written and extensively researched biography of John Bingham, Gerard Magliocca explains that researchers have neglected Bingham despite his important legislative contributions." ― The Historian

"Magliocca's frankly political biography embodies Bingham and his ideals sufficiently to correct the record with 'considerable explanatory force'...This lucidly written book provides just enough information about Bingham's life, roles, and thoughts to place upon him both the gloss of humanness and the prestige of framer/founder...American Founding Sonhelps dispel the belief that the Fourteenth Amendment is a series of platitudes to capture what was, rather than a forcefully honed and carefully crafted disruption both to create what should have been and what could be." ― The Journal of the Civil War Era

About the Author

Gerard N. Magliocca is the Samuel R. Rosen Professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. He is the author of three books on constitutional law, and his work on Andrew Jackson was the subject of an hour-long program on C-Span’s Book TV.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ NYU Press (September 6, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0814761453
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0814761458
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.42 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.37 x 1.03 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 38 ratings

About the author

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Gerard N. Magliocca

Gerard N. Magliocca

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I'm the Samuel R. Rosen Professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. I've written five books on constitutional law and history, and my next one will be about Justice Robert H. Jackson's landmark concurring opinion on presidential power in The Steel Seizure Cases.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
38 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Thomas H Rekdal
5.0 out of 5 stars First Rate Intellectual Biography
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2013
Verified Purchase
It has long been understood that constitutional views developed by the anti-slavery movement of the 1830s had a powerful influence on the Reconstruction Amendments. But the story is complicated by many puzzles. How does the prohibition in section one of the 14th Amendment against any state abridging "the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States" relate to the provision of Article IV, sec 2, that "The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states"? And how do both relate to the first eight amendments of the Bill of Rights? What was the state of the law before the Civil War, and how did the framers of the Reconstruction Amendments think it was after their work?

These issues are too complicated to disentangle in the biography of a single individual, and Magliocca does not attempt to do so. But he does succeed in clarifying many issues related to the thought of John Bingham, perhaps the most important drafter of the 14th Amendment (he authored most of section one), and convincingly demonstrates a consistency in Bingham's thought that has eluded many scholars (the most distinguished probably being Charles Fairman). Magliocca has two great virtues as a writer, brevity and clarity. He tells us just enough, but not more than necessary, to follow the thread of Bingham's thought.

Since this is a biography, it takes up some subjects only tangentially related to the Reconstruction Amendments. I was surprised to discover, for example, that Bingham had a very sophisticated understanding of the War Power. I would have given him higher marks for his role in the prosecution of the Lincoln assassins than Magliocca does; but that is carping rather than criticism.

This is a beautiful book, because it is intellectually satisfying. Bingham has at last found the biographer he deserved, and that scholars have long needed. I would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in the constitutional problems of Reconstruction, or American constitutional development generally.
10 people found this helpful
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Book Worm
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Of Who We Can Be
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2013
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As a student of American History I seldom read a book that taught me anything new. American Founding Son taught me a lot! I had heard of John Bingham but nothing close to the detail in this book. The Author (Gerald Magliocca) listed over a hundred pages of reference and documentation materials. A definite credible read of the Fourteenth Amendment and our political thinking during and just after the Civil War. If it wasn't for Male White Evangelical Radical Crazed Republican Christians the horror of slavery would still exist today and I would never be allowed to offer a comment less the ability to read. For that I thank John Bingham for risking it all for men like me and my father. The Fourteenth Amendment was written to prevent Democrats and the newly founded KKK from starting slavery all over again.This book should be required reading for Middle School students and above.
6 people found this helpful
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Christian Schlect
5.0 out of 5 stars Rescued from Obscurity
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2013
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This is a very good and significant history, not in the sense that it is lyrically written, but in the welcomed light it sheds on the enduring work of an almost forgotten politician of the Civil War era.

John Bingham wrote some of the most significant words amending the U.S. constitution. Without his dogged efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives it is difficult to imagine the modern interpretational course of our nation's constitutional law.

Those interested in the congressional politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction, general race relations in our country, the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, constitutional legal history, and even Japan's Meiji period will benefit from Professor Magliocca's notable effort.

While Mr. Bingham had his faults, his name should now rank high on any list of the best federal office holders who have served our country.
7 people found this helpful
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Jeffrey S Utsch
4.0 out of 5 stars Would like to have seen a bit more regarding the 14th ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2016
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informative and fair. Would like to have seen a bit more regarding the 14th amendment and other's views that surrounded him at the time. Overall good book however.
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Aaron
5.0 out of 5 stars A much needed, and fundamentally sound, addition to a surprising gap in the literature as an exposition on the 14th Amendment
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2013
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This is a brilliant addition to the pantheon of Constitutional literature, on par with some of the work of one of his mentors, Akhil Reed Amar. Don't let the emphasis on Bingham as a biography fool you- this is hard-core exposition on the 14th Amendment. Magliocca puts Bingham on the same plane as James "Federalist Papers" Madison, and is absolutely right to do so. The lens of Bingham's work fills a significant, if curious, gap in the literature. Other than Michael Kent Curtis' "No State Shall Abridge . . .," a surprising dearth of publications exist on the 14th Amendment, the key to much of the ongoing debate about judicial activism and originalism, equal protection, substantive and procedural due process, and the eviscerated privileges and immunities clause. Highly recommended.
One person found this helpful
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Fredrick A. Hagen
5.0 out of 5 stars Second Founding
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2019
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This is a well-written biography of not only abolitionist John Bingham but of the original civil rights amendments, especially the 14th Amendment. I am also reading, concurrently, the biography of another father of the second founding: Frederick Douglas. Quite interesting to read their parallel tracks in fighting to abolish slavery against Democrat Party resistance to the first Republican president.
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JeffF
5.0 out of 5 stars Oustanding Research on the Most Important Amendment to the Constitution and Its Author's Intent
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2017
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The Fourteenth Amendment is the most important amendment to the Constitution, as it rewrote the relationship between the state and federal governments. Professor Magliocca's well-researched book documents Bingham's clear intent for the meaning of the language of the amendment, showing that Bingham had over his career spoken frequently about the specific rights intended to be protected by the Amendment, and held a consistent view of the amendment's language before, during and after its proposal and ratification.
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Michael Bastian
5.0 out of 5 stars I am a retired lawyer with a life interest in ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2014
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I am a retired lawyer with a life interest in the Constitution. This book is magnificent. The Reconstruction Era is often over looked. John Bingham was a huge person in our Constitutional history and without the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments over 600,000 people would have died in vain in the Civil War. Give it as a gift this Christmas and to any lawyer you know on his birthday.
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