Lesson 17: How Did the Civil War Test and Transform the American Constitutional System?

Primary Sources


"Left Wing Manifesto" (1919)

The "Left Wing Manifesto" was a document by Benjamin Gitlow, used as the basis for his prosecution on anarchy charges by the state of New York. While the U.S. Supreme Court upheld his conviction, its opinion held for the first time that the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause protected personal rights from infringement by the states.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/ykffft5


Constitution of the Confederate States of America, 1861

The text of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America in 1861.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_csa.asp


Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

Lincoln delivered his first inaugural address after seven states had seceded, inaugurated their own president and rose their own flag.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/lincoln1.asp


South Carolina Declaration of Causes (1852)

South Carolina Declaration of Causes (1852).

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_scarsec.asp


Three-fifths Compromise

The Three-fifths Clause of Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution.

Link: http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/page/article-i-section-2


United States Constitution

The supreme law of the United States that provides the framework for the government. The Constitution outlines the nation's institutions of government and the most important rights of the people. The document was created in 1787 during the Philadelphia Convention. The government created by the Constitution took effect on March 4, 1789.

Link: http://civiced.org/constitution