How to Build a Nation in 15 Weeks

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Bonus Episode: Impeachment Redux Mar 16, 2021

Show notes

In the wake of the second Trump impeachment, we review the Johnson, Clinton, and (first) Trump impeachments (and Nixon's resignation), and conclude that not much is new under the sun. We also reflect on the inherently political nature of the impeachment process, and ask whether it works at all. (It doesn't, really.)

Participants: Harry Sandick, Jon Hatch, Tara Norris

Reconstruction: 19th Amendment, Part 2 Mar 11, 2021

Show notes

During World War I, suffragists pursue both national and state-by-state strategies. The National Women's Party takes a more radical approach with protests and hunger strikes, and is met with violence. The Wilson administration and Congress yield after continued organizing, and the 19th Amendment is ratified. Further activism leads Congress to pass the ERA, but ratification falls three states short. Years later, three new states ratify, and the U.S. Archivist gets sued.

Participants: Harry Sandick, Jon Hatch, Sofie Syed

Reconstruction: 19th Amendment, Part 1 Mar 09, 2021

Show notes

We begin our discussion of the struggle for women's political rights in the United States with the Revolution, with a focus on the fight against coverture and slavery, and the particular challenges for Black women. The abolitionist, labor, and temperance movements provide early opportunities for organizing. The Seneca Convention presents the Declaration of Sentiments. The 15th Amendment reveals a rift in the movement between white women and women of color.

Participants: Harry Sandick, Jon Hatch, Sofie Syed

Reconstruction: 15th Amendment Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

We discuss how organizing among African-Americans, continuing violence in the former Confederacy, and a union of principle and politics in the North lead Congress to move toward universal male suffrage, two years after rejecting it. Proponents of a guaranteed right to vote debate those seeking only a ban on racial discrimination, and conflicts erupt with some supporters of female suffrage. Things get messy in Congress. The end result is both momentous and compromised.

Participants: Harry Sandick, Jon Hatch

Bonus Episode: Historical Parallels Feb 25, 2021

Show notes

The team convenes again to further discuss the January 6, 2021 insurrection and its echoes of the end of Reconstruction, as well as thoughts about the way forward.

Reconstruction: 14th Amendment – Equal Protection Clause Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

Ongoing mob violence spurs Congress to try to help Black Americans achieve meaningful equality. But in the 1870s, the Supreme Court limits the clause to cover only state action, despite Congress's intentions. In the 1890s, it allows segregation by state governments. In 1964, it trades anti-subjugation for anti-classification. And in 1967, it creates qualified immunity, and then later expands it to shield almost all conduct by state law enforcement.

Participants: Harry Sandick, Jon Hatch, Kevin Opoku-Gyamfi

Reconstruction: 14th Amendment – Privileges & Immunities and Due Process Clauses Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

Congress draws on Article IV and the Corfield opinion to craft a new privileges and immunities clause, but the Supreme Court quickly narrows its scope to near-invisibility. Lochner era courts use the due process clause to promote economic rights but twist the Amendment's meaning, until substantive due process is repurposed in the 1930s. Recent opinions hint at a resurrected privileges and immunities clause, but at what cost?

Participants: Harry Sandick, Jon Hatch, Ian Eppler

Reconstruction: 14th Amendment – Birthright Citizenship Clause Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

We discuss ancient and early modern doctrines regarding the inheritance of citizenship, state and federal citizenship in the early republic, and early arguments for racial equality among citizens. We return to Dred Scott's creation of a racial exclusion to citizenship, the Reconstruction Congress's efforts to legislate race-neutral birthright citizenship, culminating in the 14th Amendment, and the persistence of racial and national exclusions.

Participants: Harry Sandick, Jon Hatch, Tara Norris

Bonus Episode: 14th Amendment, Section 3 and Impeachment Revisited Feb 04, 2021

Show notes

In light of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol and the second impeachment of Donald Trump, the team has reconvened to further discuss the history and mechanics of Section 3 and the use of impeachment against former government officials.

Reconstruction: 14th Amendment – Overview & Sections 2–4 Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

We begin our review of the 14th Amendment with the lesser-known middle clauses. Northern demographics, racism, and sexism block universal voting rights, leading to indirect support of male suffrage that is too complicated to work. Section 3 precludes officeholding by ex-Confederates but ends up interfering with the prosecution of Jefferson Davis. Section 4 upholds Union and cancels Confederate debts, and maybe means we can have a giant platinum coin.

Participants: Harry Sandick, Jon Hatch, Andrew Willinger

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