Disqualification for Rebellion

Purporting to be the first scholarly account of Section Three. Arguing that this Section of the Amendment was applied by Congress even before it was ratified to exclude ex-Confederates from office unless a Congressional supermajority gave them a waiver. Arguing that the story of section three reveals much about the whole of the Amendment during Reconstruction.

Arguing why professors should teach the forgotten parts of the Fourteenth Amendment, including Sections 2, 3, and 4. Canvassing the historical evidence, pointing out that Thaddeus Stevens led the charge for Republicans to regard Sections 2, 3, and 4 as the core of the Amendment. Also suggesting that modern litigation could be founded upon these forgotten sections.

Arguing that Thaddeus Stevens and other Republicans who drafted the Fourteenth Amendment attempted to ensure that Union loyalists would control the meaning of the post-War Constitution. Contending that Sections 2 and 3 were most important in ensuring that pro-slavery people never retook control.

Exploring William Nelson’s book The Fourteenth Amendment: From Political Principle to Judicial Doctrine. Contending that Nelson’s study remains the best, even twenty five years later. Arguing that Nelson correctly states that determining the original intent of the framers is complex, but that we are able to understand the wholistic goals of the framers and ratifiers.