Justice in Blue and Gray: A Legal History of the Civil War

by Stephen C. Neff

Overview

Stephen C. Neff offers the first comprehensive study of the wide range of legal issues arising from the American Civil War, many of which resonate in debates to this day.

Neff examines the lawfulness of secession, executive and legislative governmental powers, and laws governing the conduct of war. Whether the United States acted as a sovereign or a belligerent had legal consequences, including treating Confederates as rebellious citizens or foreign nationals in war. Property questions played a key role, especially when it came to the process of emancipation. Executive detentions and trials by military commissions tested civil liberties, and the end of the war produced a raft of issues on the status of the Southern states, the legality of Confederate acts, clemency, and compensation. A compelling aspect of the book is the inclusion of international law, as Neff situates the conflict within the general laws of war and details neutrality issues, where the Civil War broke important new legal ground.

This book not only provides an accessible and informative legal portrait of this critical period but also illuminates how legal issues arise in a time of crisis, what impact they have, and how courts attempt to resolve them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674036024
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	02/25/2010
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Stephen C. Neff is Reader in Public International Law at the University of Edinburgh School of Law.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction

1. Breaking a Nation
2. Desperate Measures
3. Fighting by the Rules
4. Occupying Territory and Seizing Property
5. The End of a Peculiar Institution
6. Taking Liberties on the Home Front
7. The World Watches
8. The Art of Blockade
9. Ending a Rebellion
10. Forgiving But Not Forgetting

• Conclusion
• Glossary of Legal Terms
• Notes
• Index

What People are Saying About This

Frank J. Williams

An essential book for understanding America's bifurcated legal system in wartime--the criminal courts under an established jurisprudence and military commissions pursuant to the law of war. Indeed, many issues Neff examines--sovereignty, detention, civil liberties in wartime--are relevant today. This is an original and vital contribution to history and constitutional law that is also accessible to general readers. I unequivocally recommend it.

— Frank J. Williams, former Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and founding chair of the Lincoln Forum

Michael Vorenberg

All of the participants in the American Civil War--Unionists, Confederates, generals, soldiers, civilians, and politicians--operated in a thicket of laws. Neff untangles the legal strands and makes them intelligible and fascinating. Included in his book are all the crucial topics: civil liberties, treatment of civilians, confiscation of property, pardons and amnesty, slavery and emancipation. Thorough yet succinct, Justice in Blue and Gray is the best book so far to bring together all the legal conflicts that shaped the Civil War.
— Michael Vorenberg, Brown University

Editorial Reviews

[Neff] shows us how the legal events of [the Civil War] resulted in the formation of legal principles that today influence American and international legal systems. He brings its history into the 21st century with analyses of terms such as ‘combatants, military tribunals, detention of persons without due process, unlimited incarceration and habeas corpus.’ I frequently had to remind myself that I was reading about the war between the states—not the War on Terror… Neff has included so much in this impressive and useful work… What he has done for legal scholarship in showing the modern relevance of meaningful legal history is deserving of high praise, and of an enthusiastic recommendation for it to be read, especially in governmental houses of justice.

Times Higher Education - Philip Kemp

An essential book for understanding America’s bifurcated legal system in wartime—the criminal courts under an established jurisprudence and military commissions pursuant to the law of war. Indeed, many issues Neff examines—sovereignty, detention, civil liberties in wartime—are relevant today. This is an original and vital contribution to history and constitutional law that is also accessible to general readers. I unequivocally recommend it.

Frank J. Williams

All of the participants in the American Civil War—Unionists, Confederates, generals, soldiers, civilians, and politicians—operated in a thicket of laws. Neff untangles the legal strands and makes them intelligible and fascinating. Included in his book are all the crucial topics: civil liberties, treatment of civilians, confiscation of property, pardons and amnesty, slavery and emancipation. Thorough yet succinct, Justice in Blue and Gray is the best book so far to bring together all the legal conflicts that shaped the Civil War.

Michael Vorenberg

[Neff] shows us how the legal events of [the Civil War] resulted in the formation of legal principles that today influence American and international legal systems. He brings its history into the 21st century with analyses of terms such as "combatants, military tribunals, detention of persons without due process, unlimited incarceration and habeas corpus." I frequently had to remind myself that I was reading about the war between the states—not the War on Terror...Neff has included so much in this impressive and useful work...What he has done for legal scholarship in showing the modern relevance of meaningful legal history is deserving of high praise, and of an enthusiastic recommendation for it to be read, especially in governmental houses of justice.
— Philip Kemp

Times Higher Education