"The book is carefully organized and well written, and it deals with a question that is still of great importance--what is the relationship of the Bill of Rights to the states."--"Journal of American History""Curtis effectively settles a serious legal debate: whether the framers of the 14th Amendment intended to incorporate the Bill of Rights guarantees and thereby inhibit state action. Taking on a formidable array of constitutional scholars, . . . he rebuts their argument with vigor and effectiveness, conclusively demonstrating the legitimacy of the incorporation thesis. . . . A bold, forcefully argued, important study."--"Library Journal"

Inhalt

Forward vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 - From the Revolution to the Bill of Rights and Beyond 18
Chapter 2 - The Historical Background of the Fourteenth Amendment 26
Chapter 3 - The Framing of the Fourteenth Amendment 57
Chapter 4 - In Which Some Historical Arguments Against Application of the Bill of Rights to the States Are Analyzed 92
Chapter 5 - The Amendment Before the States 131
Chapter 6 - Congressional Interpretation 154
Chapter 7 - The Amendment Before the Courts (Part One) 171
Chapter 8 - The Amendment Before the Courts (Part Two) 197
Conclusion 212
Notes 221
Index 267