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88CIVIL WAR HISTORY types like William W. Holden of North Carolina and Rufus B. Bullock of Georgia are criticized for not doing so. The decentralized and erratic nature of the Klan places considerable strain on the organizational abilities of the historian. There was not really one Klan but many, each influenced more by local than by national forces. Generalizations which will apply to the entire South are few and far between. Professor Trelease divides his work into six chronological parts of roughly one year each and subdivides it into twentyfive essentially geographical chapters. The resulting kaleidoscopic shifts in scene are sometimes disconcerting, but the fault lies with the material rather than the technique. In sum, White Terror is an important revisionist contribution to Reconstruction historiography—wellresearched , well-organized, well-written. EVERETTE SWINNEY Southwest Texas State University The Guarantee Clause of the U. S. Constitution. By William M. Wiecek. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1972. Pp. 324. $12.50.) A "sleeping giant" is what Charles Sumner called Article IV, Section 4, of the United States Constitution, which guarantees to each state a republican form of government. In this study Wiecek discusses the times in our history when this giant stirred and in so doing demonstrated some of the potential power it possesses. Starting with the limited way in which the founding fathers defined "republican," Wiecek describes the major circumstances and events in American history which provoked interpretations of this clause, not only by the courts but by advocates of government action, both those who saw the clause as a protector of the status quo and those who wanted states to become more "republican." Both proponents and opponents of slavery turned to this clause, as did critics and advocates of federal reconstruction of the southern states after the Civil War. The vagueness of the term "republican" led the Supreme Court under Roger B. Taney in Luther v. Borden, in the aftermath of the Dorr Rebellion, to declare that definition of the term was a political question and not within the jurisdiction of the Court. This view was reiterated by the Supreme Court in 1912 in Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Co. v. Oregon, although attempts were made at lower court levels to apply the test of "republicanism" to progressive measures. While the Supreme Court finally did accept a case involving a political question in Baker v. Can in 1962, the majority opinion which ultimately compelled Tennessee to reapportion its legislature was not based on the guarantee clause; but reference to it again suggested its potential. Wiecek has written his book about a clause of the Constitution which has had minimal impact upon the development of the nation. In the three most significant cases in which it was invoked and which reached the highest tribunal, the decisions of that tribunal were note- BOOK REVIEWS89 worthy for the reasons given not to rely on its application. It would seem to give carte bhnche to the federal government to intervene in a state to guarantee a republican form of government, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to enter the touchy area of defining "republican ." The weight of the author's argument for seeing the guarantee clause as a "sleeping giant" lies in the future, but his suggestions for the uses to which constitutional activists might put it to remove a broad spectrum of inequities seem a little far-fetched. The movement toward the supremacy of the federal government over the states, its ability to intervene in state and local activities, as well as to define republican government, has gone a long way down a road marked by other constitutional clauses and amendments, such as the general welfare clause and the 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, and 24th amendments. The introduction of the proposed 27th Amendment indicates that this route is not likely to be abandoned soon. History suggests the "sleeping giant" has been rather effectively bypassed. Nevertheless this is an excellent study for the general history student. It is written in a clear, crisp style that aids comprehension, and although Wiecek works in his own views and interpretations of historical events, he does so without encroaching on the creditability of his material. The book is expensive...

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