Book contents
- The Second Founding
- The Second Founding
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Cover
- Introduction
- Part I Antebellum Law
- 1 Due Process of Law
- 2 Protection of the Laws
- 3 The Privileges and Immunities of Citizenship
- Part II From Abridgment to War and Ratification
- Part III The Modern Era
- Notes
- Index
2 - Protection of the Laws
from Part I - Antebellum Law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2020
- The Second Founding
- The Second Founding
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Cover
- Introduction
- Part I Antebellum Law
- 1 Due Process of Law
- 2 Protection of the Laws
- 3 The Privileges and Immunities of Citizenship
- Part II From Abridgment to War and Ratification
- Part III The Modern Era
- Notes
- Index
Summary
This chapter surveys the legal history of the term the "protection of the laws," from the writings of the early natural rights thinkers, the American Founders, and Blackstone to Andrew Jackson and antebellum state-level court cases. It argues that the concept of the "protection of the laws," including the "equal protection of the laws," was narrower thanmodern-day courts maintain: it was about the remedial and protective services supplied by the government and the laws aiming to protect individuals in the exercise of their rights against private interference and private violence.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Second FoundingAn Introduction to the Fourteenth Amendment, pp. 36 - 47Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020