IN UNITED STATES HISTORY BY CHARLES WARREN FORMERLY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES PREFACE THIS book is not a law book. It is a narrative of a section of our National history connected with the Supreme Court, and is written for laymen and lawyers alike. As words are but "the skin of a living thought ", so law cases as they appear in the law reports are but the dry bones of very vital social, political and economic contests; they have lost all fleshly interest. This book is an attempt to revivify the important cases decided by the Court and to picture the Court itself from year to year in its contemporary setting. For those who wish a recital of the decisions and a collection of the biographies of the Judges, other histories of the Court are available (such as Hampton L. Carson's, prepared at the time of the Centennial of the Federal Judiciary). For those who wish a statement of the doctrines of constitutional law established in the long line of opinions of the Court, there are numerous technical law books to supply their needs. But for those who wish to view the Court and its decided cases, as living elements and important factors in the course of the history of the United States, there are few published works, other than Gustavus Myers' History of the United States Supreme Court (written from a purely Socialistic standpoint), and Albert J. Beveridge's masterly Life of John Marshall. (The 1 "A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used." Holmes, J., in Towne v. Eisner (1918), 245 U. S. 418, 425. chapters of my book covering the period described by Beveridge were completed before the publication of his work; they are written, however, from an entirely different standpoint, and without any attempt to rival his dramatic depiction of personalities.) While the Court's history might be set forth more logically by tracing continuously the development of the doctrines established by the decided cases, I have purposely described it, Term by Term, in order that its decisions might be the better correlated, in the reader's mind, with the political events in the Nation's history. I have laid particular stress upon the views taken of the Court and of its important cases by contemporary writers and statesmen; for the impression made upon the public by the Court's decisions has often had as great an effect upon history as have the decisions themselves. At the same time, I have pointed out that contemporary appraisal of men and events is frequently mistaken, and that (as has been well said) destiny may laugh it to scorn. I have emphasized the important part which the attacks upon the Court have played; for such attacks have often affected or modified the status of the Court and of its decisions. In carrying out this plan of preserving, as far as possible, the atmosphere of the times, I have quoted with considerable fullness from articles and letters appearing in newspapers, magazines, and elsewhere.1 While such a method of writing history tends to discursiveness and may offend some historical technicians, I have deliberately decided to run that risk. 1 In estimating the effect of newspapers upon public opinion, the reader must bear in mind that in the eighteenth century and for the first half of the nineteenth century, the editorials and articles of the Washington papers and the editorials and Washington correspondence of the leading New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Richmond papers, dealing with the Court and its important cases, were widely copied and reproduced in newspapers throughout the country. |