This book is a history of the Constitution and Lincoln's relation to it during the Civil War. If I were smart enough, I would read everything I could on the Constitution. The history and interpretation of our Constitution is of abiding interest to me.
Debates about the consitutionality of secession do not interest me. It happened; the war ended the discussion. The constitutionality of secession is a moot point.
Debates about Lincoln's record on civil liberties during the war does not interest me. Though an important topic, it just isn't something I care about for some reason.
The author discusses the political science question of sovereignty. I take it that sovereignty is a technical term meaning power in political terms. Where is the source of American sovereignty? The author concludes that there is no clear historical answer to this question.
The critical question comes down to this. Are we a nation of people collectively, or we a compact of states? Like all nationalists down thru the years like Hamilton, Lincoln, and FDR, I say we are a nation of people, not a confederation of states. After all, the Constitution begins with "We the people."
To be continued.
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