Listen free for 30 days

  • The Second Founding

  • An Introduction to the Fourteenth Amendment
  • Written by: Ilan Wurman
  • Narrated by: Ilan Wurman
  • Length: 5 hrs and 1 min

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Second Founding cover art

The Second Founding

Written by: Ilan Wurman
Narrated by: Ilan Wurman
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $25.00

Buy Now for $25.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

In The Second Founding: An Introduction to the Fourteenth Amendment, Ilan Wurman provides an illuminating introduction to the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment's famous provisions "due process of law", "equal protection of the laws", and the "privileges or immunities" of citizenship. He begins by exploring the antebellum legal meanings of these concepts, starting from Magna Carta, the Statutes of Edward III, and the Petition of Right to William Blackstone and antebellum state court cases. 

The book then traces how these concepts solved historical problems confronting framers of the Fourteenth Amendment, including the comity rights of free blacks, private violence and the denial of the protection of the laws, and the notorious abridgment of freedmen's rights in the Black Codes. Wurman makes a compelling case that, if the modern originalist Supreme Court interpreted the Amendment in "the language of the law", it would lead to surprising and desirable results today.

©2020 Ilan Wurman (P)2020 Ilan Wurman

More from the same

What listeners say about The Second Founding

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.