
Contents
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The Interbellum Constitutionalist The Interbellum Constitutionalist
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The Rising Young Lawyer: Maryland to Virginia The Rising Young Lawyer: Maryland to Virginia
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Virginian Constitutionalism: Richmond Virginian Constitutionalism: Richmond
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Commerce: The Tidewater Commerce: The Tidewater
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Speeches, Serpents, and Fame: Richmond and the Burr Trial Speeches, Serpents, and Fame: Richmond and the Burr Trial
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The Search for an Umpire: Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee The Search for an Umpire: Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee
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At the Bar of the Supreme Court: Washington City At the Bar of the Supreme Court: Washington City
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The Attorney General in the Court and the Cabinet The Attorney General in the Court and the Cabinet
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The Attorney General and the Practice of Federalism The Attorney General and the Practice of Federalism
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A Federalism of Competing Umpires A Federalism of Competing Umpires
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1 The Constitutional Lawyer in the Long Founding Moment: A Practice of Federalism
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Published:May 2024
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Abstract
This chapter examines the role of lawyers, both as courtroom advocates and as men of letters, in shaping the Interbellum Constitution. Early-nineteenth-century Americans viewed themselves as cast adrift as the members of the founding generation died. They worried that the meaning of the Constitution might be impossible for them to comprehend without their elders as guides. The problem of concurrent power was especially vexing to them. The creativity of interbellum lawyers, such as Attorney General William Wirt, lay in their ability to generate legal precedents, and to do so with a verve that made them speak to a broad popular audience. In an era in which Supreme Court arguments extended for days, the courtroom offered legal theatre and public spectacle. Constitutional interpretation also flourished in the executive branch during this period, in particular in the Cabinet. Arguments in these varied settings were speech acts in which constitutional meaning was created. The arena was public, and the professional and social stakes were high. As a matter of intellectual history, lawyers’ arguments offer a window into the arguments that contemporaries viewed as the most compelling ones. This chapter draws on leading statesmen’s personal correspondence, literary writings, and legal notes to limn the settings in which interbellum constitutional debates unfolded.
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