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Commentaries on the Constitution First Thus Edition

by Joseph Story (Author), John Nowak (Editor), Ronald Rotunda (Editor)

3.7 4 ratings

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More than 150 years after their first publication, Story's 1833 commentaries continue to be cited by both courts and commentators. Originally published in two forms ― a three-volume treatise and a one-volume abridgement ― the one-volume work reprinted here contains all of Story's mature thoughts on the nature of constitutional adjudication, the role of the courts, and his theories on judicial review and constitutional interpretation.

This book is part of the Legal History Series, edited by H. Jefferson Powell, Duke University School of Law.

"…it would not perhaps be amiss to suggest that the most important publishing event of the [Constitution's] bicentennial year was the reappearance in print of Justice Story's own one-volume abridgement of Commentaries." ― The American Journal of Legal History

ISBN-10

0890893144
ISBN-13

978-0890893142
Edition

First Thus
Publisher

Carolina Academic Press
Publication date

January 1, 1987
Language

English
Dimensions

5.75 x 2 x 9 inches
Print length

780 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Review

The Commentaries were tremendous achievements, and evidence immense industry and legal knowledge, and themselves entitled him to be ranked as a jurist of the first rank. --Walker, Oxford Companion to Law 1192

Taking the Federalist as the basis of his Commentaries, he advocates a liberal construction of the palladium of our liberties. --Marvin, Legal Bibliography 669

About the Author

Joseph Story (1779-1845) was a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, as well as an Associate Supreme Court Justice from 1811-1845. He delivered the majority opinion freeing the Amistad slaves.

John Nowak is the Raymond and Mary Simon Chair in Constitutional Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

The late Ronald Rotunda was the Doy & Dee Henley Chair and a Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at Chapman University School of Law.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Carolina Academic Press; First Thus edition (January 1, 1987)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 780 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0890893144
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0890893142
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.45 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 2 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,829,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #956 in Constitutions (Books)
- #1,624 in United States History (Books)
- #4,388 in Presidents & Heads of State Biographies

Customer Reviews:
3.7 4 ratings

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Tim Rose

GREAT

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2015

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awesome quick delivery!

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Warren L. McFerran

Historically Significant, But Contains False Theories of the Constitution

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2005

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Joseph Story began his political career as a Jeffersonian Democratic-Republican in a New England State dominated by Hamiltonian Federalists. When he was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President James Madison, it was under the impression that Mr. Story would serve as a counter-weight to the nationalistic-minded Chief Justice John Marshall. Yet, after his appointment, Justice Story made a conversion to the Hamiltonian Federalist mentality, and became the protege of the Chief Justice. (In fact, he dedicated his Commentaries on the Constitution to Chief Justice Marshall.) While serving on the Supreme Court, Justice Story also served as a law professor at Harvard University, a position in which he was encouraged to produce works espousing the nationalistic point of view (in opposition to the States' Rights school of thought that emphasized the federal nature of our system of government).

Within the Commentaries, Justice Story bended the truth to suit his purposes, as, for example, in his explanation of the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. According to Justice Story, the Constitution was adopted by the American people as a single sovereign Nation over the States. The wording of the Preamble, "We the people of the United States," for instance, was offered to sustain this view, despite the fact that, in the Constitutional Convention, the Preamble had been worded as, "We the people of the States of," followed by the names of the thirteen sovereign States. The Convention's Committee of Style modified it to read "We the people of the United States" only because it was not known whether all 13 States would actually ratify it. Justice Story chose to ignore this historical fact in presenting his view of the Constitution, because the fact did not support his conclusion.

The fact that the Constitution was ratified by the States, as States, with each State being bound only by its own act of ratification, was deemed irrelevant by Justice Story. The ratification of the compact by States was simply a matter of convenience in his opinion. So, too, was the fact that the new government under the Constitution was inaugurated before North Carolina and Rhode Island had ratified the compact, and those two States were not even members of the Union when Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States. In fact, President Washington's first term was nearly half completed before Rhode Island finally ratified the Constitution and joined the Union. Nonetheless, Justice Story insisted that the Constitution was adopted by a single, consolidated Nation of Americans, because such a contention was requisite to sustain his theory that the States are not sovereign and had little or nothing to do with the establishment of our current political system.

Justice Story's Commentaries on the Constitution contributed significantly toward the developing Consolidating School of Thought that originated with Alexander Hamilton and was transmitted by Daniel Webster and other Whig politicians. That school of thought ultimately gave rise to the doctrines espoused by Abraham Lincoln and the Radical Republicans that the States of our Union are not sovereign and cannot resist the supremacy of the centralized power or secede from the Union.

Considering the historical significance of Justice Story's Commentaries on the Constitution, I would recommend it to all serious students of constitutional history and political science. However, at the same time, I strongly recommend that the reader have alternative explanations of the Constitution available for reference and comparison. In particular, I recommend "A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States," by Alexander H. Stephens, and "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government," by Jefferson Davis. In both of these books, the most glaring fallacies of Justice Story are identified and corrected by superior reasoning and historical fact.

64 people found this helpful

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Margaret Healey

Part of Intro came out immediately

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2007

Part of the Introduction came out immediately as if it were never attached. This shouldn't happen on a "Like New" book. I enjoy the book but the condition is wholly unacceptable. No other pages have fallen out, however.

2 people found this helpful

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J. Melton

The Consolidationist

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2006

While Joseph Story is commonly acknowledged as a constitutional expert, he advanced some very flawed theories on the Constitution, which ran counter to the what the founders put into place, and ran directly against the limited federal government that was essential to the concept of federalism.

In Story's historically incorrect assertion, the national government pre-dated the states, which later gave rise to the dimution of states' rights and the utter destruction of the Constitutional Republic, replaced by the consolidated mess we have today. The truth, of course, is that the states were sovereign in their own territory, and only delegated away certain powers (clearly deliniated in Article 1, Section 9).

While there is much in this volume that is useful from a historical perspective, the underlying theory that Story holds of the origin of the Constitution (and thereby, the Constitutional Republic) is deeply flawed, which adversely affects what he writes about the document.

24 people found this helpful

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