"Whom Can We Trust Now?": The Meaning of Treason in the United States, from the Revolution Through the Civil WarFor several hours in August 1787, the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention debated the two sentences defining treason that would serve as the only criminal law in the U.S. Constitution. As storied and controversial as this ancient crime was, the meaning of treason for the new democratic republic was difficult to foresee. Historian and lawyer Brian Carso demonstrates that although treason law was conflicted and awkward, the broader idea of treason gave recognizable shape to abstract ideas of loyalty, betrayal, allegiance, and political obligation in the United States. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Carso begins by exploring the nature of loyalty and betrayal in a democratic republic, using examples ranging from Socrates in Plato's Crito to the dilemma of Robert E. Lee in 1861 and the trial of Timothy McVeigh in 1997. Turning to legal history, the study considers the historical antecedents of the Treason Clause of the U.S. Constitution and examines the utility of American treason law as it was applied in a variety of cases, most notably in the 1807 trial of Aaron Burr, in which Supreme Court Justice John Marshall used twenty-five thousand words to explicate the Treason Clause. Finding that the antinomies of treason law in a democratic republic make successful prosecutions against treason nearly impossible, Carso turns to the political, intellectual, and cultural realms of civic life to identify and to explain the broader meaning of treason. The study investigates the perpetual condemnation of Benedict Arnold and the many ways treason animated civic discourse during the Civil war. By examining editorials, sermons, histories, orations, art, literature, and political cartoons, Carso identifies how the meaning of treason engaged the public imagination in a variety of compelling forms and instructed citizens on loyalty and betrayal outside the courtroom as much as within it. |
From inside the book
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... , ” Political cartoon , Harper's Weekly , June 24 , 1865 . 209 Fig . 10 : " The Penalty of Treason , " New - York Illustrated News , June 11 , 1862 . 210 Acknowledgments The ideas in this book have been worked out List of Figures.
... , ” Political cartoon , Harper's Weekly , June 24 , 1865 . 209 Fig . 10 : " The Penalty of Treason , " New - York Illustrated News , June 11 , 1862 . 210 Acknowledgments The ideas in this book have been worked out List of Figures.
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... ideas in this book have been worked out over time , in several manifestations : first , as an unpublished law review note on the implications of treason doctrine for criminal liability theories ; next , as a Ph.D. dissertation ; and ...
... ideas in this book have been worked out over time , in several manifestations : first , as an unpublished law review note on the implications of treason doctrine for criminal liability theories ; next , as a Ph.D. dissertation ; and ...
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... idea of treason . To be sure , the emotional power of treason was always prominent . But if the prosecution of treason cases was made difficult by the antino- mies of treason in a democratic republic , they were further complicated by ...
... idea of treason . To be sure , the emotional power of treason was always prominent . But if the prosecution of treason cases was made difficult by the antino- mies of treason in a democratic republic , they were further complicated by ...
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... idea of treason , was hardly remote . By the mid - nineteenth century a lore and an imagery of treason had taken a discreet but firm hold in American culture . Readers of Harper's Weekly , for instance , regularly saw treason discussed ...
... idea of treason , was hardly remote . By the mid - nineteenth century a lore and an imagery of treason had taken a discreet but firm hold in American culture . Readers of Harper's Weekly , for instance , regularly saw treason discussed ...
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... idea of treason . As a symbolic representation , Arnold's betrayal is part of our creation story ; the 1860 Harper's Weekly illustration of Ar- nold's meeting with Andre prominently features a snake looking on from a tree branch ...
... idea of treason . As a symbolic representation , Arnold's betrayal is part of our creation story ; the 1860 Harper's Weekly illustration of Ar- nold's meeting with Andre prominently features a snake looking on from a tree branch ...
Contents
What is a Traitor? Loyalty Betrayal and the State | 7 |
A Republic If You Can Keep It The Evolution of Treason in America 16201787 | 33 |
Seasons of Insurrection Early Rebellions and the Trial of Aaron Burr | 87 |
The Damnation of His Fame Benedict Arnold and the Cultural Punishment of Betrayal | 129 |
With Malice Toward None Treason Amnesty and the Language of Betrayal during the Civil War | 181 |
Common terms and phrases
25 Edward Aaron Burr allegiance American Law American Revolution André argued army authority Benedict Arnold Bernard Bailyn betrayal Blackstone Bollman Boston British Burr Trials Burr's citizens Civil colonies colonists Confederate Congress conspiracy Constitution constructive treason Continental Continental Army Continental Congress crime debate declared Edward III enemy England English explained fame federal Federalist George Washington Harper's Weekly historian History idea of treason indictment infamy insurrection James Jefferson Davis John John André Justice king Law of Treason levying Lincoln loyalty Madison Marshall Massachusetts meaning of treason Mercy Otis Warren military moral Nullification Crisis overt act Pardon and Amnesty Patriot person Philadelphia political popular sovereignty President prosecution punishment quoted Ramsay rebellion rebels republican Revolutionary secession Society sovereign statute Supreme Court tion traitor trea treachery Treason Clause treason law Treason of Benedict U.S. Supreme Court Union United University Press Virginia virtue Warren West Point Wilkinson William wrote York