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Rutgers V. Waddington: Alexander Hamilton, the End of the War for Independence, and the Origins of Judicial Review
Contributor(s): Hoffer, Peter Charles (Author)
ISBN: 0700622055     ISBN-13: 9780700622054
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
OUR PRICE:   $24.70  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: February 2016
Qty:
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- History | United States - Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
- Law | Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice
- Law | Constitutional
Dewey: 346.747
LCCN: 2015035635
Series: Landmark Law Cases & American Society
Physical Information: 0.5" H x 5.5" W x 8.4" (0.50 lbs) 168 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 18th Century
- Chronological Period - 19th Century
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Once the dust of the Revolution settled, the problem of reconciling the erstwhile warring factions arose, and as is often the case in the aftermath of violent revolutions, the matter made its way into the legal arena. Rutgers v. Waddington was such a case. Through this little-known but remarkable dispute over back rent for a burned-down brewery, Peter Charles Hoffer recounts a tale of political and constitutional intrigue involving some of the most important actors in America's transition from a confederation of states under the Articles of Confederation to a national republic under the U.S. Constitution.

At the end of the Revolution, the widow Rutgers and her sons returned to the brewery they'd abandoned when the British had occupied New York. They demanded rent from Waddington, the loyalist who had rented the facility under the British occupation. Under a punitive New York state law, the loyalist Waddington was liable. But the peace treaty's provisions protecting loyalists' property rights said otherwise. Appearing for the defendants was war veteran, future Federalist, and first secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton. And, as always, lurking in the background was the estimable Aaron Burr. As Hoffer details Hamilton's arguments for the supremacy of treaty law over state law, the significance of Rutgers v. Waddington in the development of a strong central government emerges clearly--as does the role of the courts in bridging the young nation's divisions in the Revolution's wake.

Rutgers v. Waddington illustrates a foundational moment in American history. As such, it is an encapsulation of a society riven by war, buffeted by revolutionary change attempting to piece together the true meaning of, in John Adams' formulation, "rule by law, and not by men."


Contributor Bio(s): Hoffer, Peter Charles: - Peter Charles Hoffer is Distinguished Research Professor of History at the University of Georgia in Athens. His books include The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A Legal History, as well as The Supreme Court: An Essential History with Williamjames Hull Hoffer, and N.E.H. Hull.