The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution

The list of books to read to understanding our constitutional system before Stolen Seat Guy's book is legion, but this might be on the short list. I know the material so it isn't novel, but a quick summary like this still is often helpful even for me. He has a longer work on Reconstruction, but this is a good summary of the times and amendments, especially for the general reader. High schools should distribute this book.

It reminds us of the possible open-ended understanding, which as he notes in the conclusion can be much wider applied. It strikes me, e.g., that the Civil Rights Cases are actually still good law. And, things like a right to education, to vote and protection by the government (long seen as a privilege of citizenship) can be broadly protected by federal law, even if the courts alone might not provide protection. But, the enforcement clauses suggested Congress was thought to be the primary security in a basic way, having an open-ended discretion given broad terms like "privileges or immunities" to do so. The future is still open here.