An indispensable liberty : the fight for free speech in nineteenth-century America /

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Bibliographic Details
Imprint:	Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, ©2016.
Description:	xii, 295 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Freedom of speech -- United States -- History. Freedom of speech. United States. History.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/10649482

Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:	Cronin, Mary M. (Mary Margaret), editor.
ISBN:	9780809334728 0809334720
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:	"Most Americans today view freedom of speech as a bedrock of all other liberties, a defining feature of American citizenship. During the nineteenth century, the popular concept of American freedom of speech was still being formed. In An Indispensable Liberty: The Fight for Freedom of Expression in the Nineteenth Century, contributors examine attempts to restrict freedom of speech and the press during and after the Civil War. The nine essays that make up this collection show how, despite judicial, political, and public proclamations of support for freedom of expression, factors like tradition, gender stereotypes, religion, and fear of social unrest often led to narrow judicial and political protection for freedom of expression by people whose views upset the status quo. These views, expressed by abolitionists, suffragists, and labor leaders, challenged rigid cultural mores of the day, and many political and cultural leaders feared that extending freedom of expression to agitators would undermine society. The Civil War intensified questions about the duties and privileges of citizenship. After the war, key conflicts over freedom of expression were triggered by Reconstruction, suffrage, the Comstock Act, and questions about libel. The volume's contributors blend social, cultural, and intellectual history to untangle the complicated strands of nineteenth-century legal thought. By chronicling the development of modern-day notions of free speech, this timely collection offers both a valuable exploration of the First Amendment in nineteenth-century America and a useful perspective on challenges to today's civil liberties."-- "This collection of eleven essays examines nineteenth-century legal and extralegal attempts to restrict freedom of speech and the press as well as the efforts of others to push back against those restrictions"--

Table of Contents:

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1. National Conflict and Freedom of Expression
1. A Press Ablaze: Violent Suppression of Abolitionist Speech, Press, Petition, and Assembly
2. "Palpable Injury": Abraham Lincoln and Press Suppression in the Civil War North
3. Freedom of the Press in a Slave Society at War: The Confederate Congress and Others Really Did Make No Law
4. Fight, Fold, Flip, or Flee: The Confederate Press and Enemy Occupation, 1861-65
5. Disturbing the Public Peace: Radical and Conservative Editors in the Reconstruction South
Part 2. The Fight for Freedom of Expression
6. The Rocky Road to Truth as a Defense: Libel Construction in the Nineteenth Century
7. Keeping the Light under the Bushel: Laws, Mores, and Reading
8. No Rights for the Working Man: Laboring before the First Amendment Had force
9. Freedom of Expression for Women: The Fight for Suffrage and Personal Liberty
10. The National Defense Association: Liberal Protector of Free Speech
11. Davis v. Massachusetts: Expressive Conduct and Regulated Liberty in the Nineteenth Century
Contributors
Index

An indispensable liberty : the fight for free speech in nineteenth-century America /

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