
The Broken Constitution
Lincoln, Slavery, and the Refounding of America
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Narrated by:
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Noah Feldman
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By:
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Noah Feldman
This program is read by the author
An innovative account of Abraham Lincoln, constitutional thinker and doer
Abraham Lincoln is justly revered for his brilliance, compassion, humor, and rededication of the United States to achieving liberty and justice for all. He led the nation into a bloody civil war to uphold the system of government established by the US Constitution - a system he regarded as the “last best hope of mankind”. But how did Lincoln understand the Constitution?
In this groundbreaking study, Noah Feldman argues that Lincoln deliberately and recurrently violated the United States’ founding arrangements. When he came to power, it was widely believed that the federal government could not use armed force to prevent a state from seceding. It was also assumed that basic civil liberties could be suspended in a rebellion by Congress but not by the president, and that the federal government had no authority over slavery in states where it existed. As president, Lincoln broke decisively with all these precedents, and effectively rewrote the Constitution’s place in the American system. Before the Civil War, the Constitution was best understood as a compromise pact - a rough and ready deal between states that allowed the Union to form and function. After Lincoln, the Constitution came to be seen as a sacred text - a transcendent statement of the nation’s highest ideals.
The Broken Constitution is the first book to tell the story of how Lincoln broke the Constitution in order to remake it. To do so, it offers a riveting narrative of his constitutional choices and how he made them - and places Lincoln in the rich context of thinking of the time, from African American abolitionists to Lincoln’s Republican rivals and Secessionist ideologues.
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
©2021 Noah Feldman (P)2021 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















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Excellent
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Incredible book by an incredible teacher
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This book was very well written, incisive and illuminating. Highly recommended.
Unique Analysis
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this is an interesting perspective. Loved it!!
Perspective
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Not gnna find a better authority on the constitution than Noah, so worth buckling in.
Found this honest account of our history to be a refreshing tonic in today's polarized environment.
Corrective Lens for Our Founding and Refounding
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Persuasive and master,y
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Takes you to Lincoln’s time for a new understanding
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Conundrum
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Feldman does a great job of chronicling Lincoln’s crimes and atrocities. Usually without varnish. It’s incredibly refreshing because you usually have to go to figures like Tom DiLorenzo to get this sort of an honest assessment.
The big thing I disagree with is Feldman’s interpretation that this was all moral because it was done to save the union and free the slaves. To me, Lincoln was the American Stalin. However, I can appreciate Feldman’s willingness to embrace the good and bad of Lincoln and not try to downplay or make excuses for what was done in the darkest hour of American history.
A shockingly honest account of our worst president
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Feldman is also a spectacular audio narrator, and uses his professorial tenor to keep listeners engaged throughout the book.
An exceptional book about an exceptional time
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