A Book Review by Nancy Spannaus No Property in Man: Slavery and Antislavery at the Nation’s Founding Sean Wilentz Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2018, 349 pp. March 5, 2019—I can say without hesitation that anyone writing about the history of slavery in the United States should read […]
American Dialogue: The Founders and Us, by Joseph J. Ellis. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2018. 283 pp. Reviewed by Edward Spannaus , November 29, 2018 This is both an ambitious and a provocative book. Joseph Ellis, who taught college-level American history for decades, takes the major debates among the […]
The sixth and final article in the series “The Supreme Court Affirms the American System.” Sept. 17, 2018–We publish this article today to commemorate Constitution Day, the 231st anniversary of the signing of the founding document of the United States of America. It was Supreme Court Justice John Marshall who […]
by Edward Spannaus Fifth of a series. The first four parts of this series, devoted to “John Marshall and the American System” can be found here. July 23, 2018–With the help of American System champion Henry Clay and his supporters, John Quincy Adams was elected President in early 1825, after […]
By Edward Spannaus June 15, 2018–Much ink has been spilt over President Donald Trump’s use of his pardoning power. Yet his use of that power is entirely consistent with the powers granted to the President by the U.S. Constitution, and with the intent of its Framers. It is refreshing to […]
By Edward Spannaus Part One- Marshall’s Supreme Court Affirms American System Part Two- Creating Legal Infrastructure for a National Economy Part Three- Virginia’s Assault on the Marshall Court Part Four- Steamboat Case Clears Way for the American System Part Five – Marshall Defends the American System against Jacksonian Populism. […]
by Edward Spannaus Fourth in a series on The Supreme Court Affirms the American System It is not immoderate to say that no other judicial pronouncement in history was so wedded to the inventive genius of man and so interwoven with the economic and social evolution of a nation and […]
by Edward Spannaus Third in the series “The Supreme Court Affirms the American System” May 3, 2018–Six weeks after his March 1819 monumental opinion in McCullough vs. Maryland, Chief Justice John Marshall, having returned to Richmond, wrote to Associate Justice Joseph Story: “Our opinion in the Bank case has aroused […]
By Nancy Spannaus The following discussion of FDR’s 100 Days was written in May of 2013, and has been slightly edited for republication. FDR’s New Deal moved to reverse more than 30 years of subversion of the American System of economics, and restore the principles enshrined in the Preamble of […]
By Nancy Spannaus* Oct. 14, 2020—The Oct. 2 release of Arthur Wilmarth’s new book calling for a new Glass-Steagall law is timely, and critical. Unfortunately, it is not clear that the relevant political figures are yet prepared to listen. Wilmarth’s book is entitled Taming the Megabanks: Why We Need a […]
September 19, 2020–I am pleased to announce that on September 23, I will challenge the myths about Alexander Hamilton in a lecture sponsored by the Treasury Historical Association (THA). My talk, addressed to the Treasury group via internet platform, will be based on my 2019 book Hamilton Versus Wall Street: […]
The Declaration, Through Lincoln’s Eyes
By Nancy Spannaus July 4, 2019—There was perhaps no more ardent supporter of the Declaration of Independence than Abraham Lincoln. He saw the Declaration as the moral foundation of the nation, upon which the Constitution was based. Thus, no matter how much the United States population fell short of its […]