The Republic According to John Marshall Harlan by Linda Przybyszewski (review)

Linda Przybyszewski. The Republic According to / ohn Marxhi,11 Hurltin. Chapel Hill: University of North Carcilina Press, 1999. 304 PP· ISBN: 0807847895 It' aperl, I9·95· ISBN: 0807824933 ther candidates, but I want to make clear that przybyszewski helcings on this special shelf. Or ( kies jil I LY)uld iii: ike the argument thal the Przyhyszews,ki vcilume des: rvei : 1 shelf al] ic,itself, !, ince it is such n wondci·fully inni)vative . 11. 1. 1(mch t(} judicial land especially United States Supreme Courtl biography. The volume is a selfccinscious attempt to understand what the purpose of judicial hic, graphy is. : md how tc) move beycind the usual aims of biography. As the author states in the introduction, " This twiok di· gue that the search for greatness holibles histtirical wt,rk on iudges because it is al mistaken attempt tii transcend histlution : try generation. Indeed, justice;icir Harlan, was defined " by referetice tc, the natic,n.11 missioii " k721. Harlan understood the L) cclaration of Indepentlence as our 1(111[lilinK constitution: 11 clcicument. He elevated the revolutionary spirit of the Ikdaration ... above the complacency of the Constitutic,Ii" { 64). Fall 2001 Harlan's family experience, especially that of a Wlii: slaveholding family in Kentucky, and carly lifeimhull| him with three notions that shaped everything that he clid : is a judge: paternalism, nation. ilisin anil rcligioiis faith. Each cit these notions derived from the Harl: in filmily tradition : is experienced and Inanifested in the life ( 11 [·[ arlan, 8 fcirmerly sl:iveholding, southern Whigturned Repitlilican, Presbyterian iuslice of the United St: ites Supreme (: lent concern hir slaves. His ptilit ical lineage incorp<) 1·: tted h„ th the Whig ctimmitment to free competilitin plus governmental interventicm in behalf of economic clevelcipment and the Republican :, dherence to free labor. And his religion added a providential aspect to everything he believed and did. And these notions interacted in powerful ways. Re' ligicin reinfc,recil nationalism, Creating : i c{, Inmilment tc) a heaveilly-inspired sense tif nalic), MI mission - " As Gc)( 1: 1 chosen ], cople, Americans were destined 1£ 1 serve as : in ex: iniple tti the world" ( 71). This notion 01 divine American mission undergirded alincist everything Harl: in did, even trumping ctinstitutional < 1(, Ctrine Wl, en l|le tw{) c., 1110 into cc„ illict. All of these elements ccime into omvergence in rzybyszewski's brilliant acct)unt cil civil rights, st,cial Ii, Khts and r, ici,11 identiry. }[, 11], in is best ktiown fc,r the iwi) disents Ithe (.' lvil Right.$ (' Lire,and /' h'wi v. Forguvm) in which he scenis li) t.ike . 1 1·, idically cg,ilit,11·i.in pcisilic)11 <) 11 r: ice. He is, after: 111, gencrally km, wn:is the kirelunner (, f lustice Warren in Hi· yinij i. 11011( 1 01 1· illictiti{) 11 1() 1· tile c<11(31·blind cimititution"rhetoric of his dissent in Plessv. But his modei·n .dmirers have never ] cen able ti) explain the scver. 11 c., ses in which [ larlan vi,red . ind wrote in suppx )rt fit segregaticn 2( Jumining v. Richmond lindrd of Edzic a 1 11311, kir inst: ince).TI) explnin this apparent paradox, Pr: ybyszewski develcips a ct,nvincing argunicI, 1 h., sed ( in Harl. in's n. 11-ri,w Linilerst.iniling < it civt] rights, wh Ic h incl itited pithlic acctimincidaticin hui mit public cducaticin. Bul lc) S.19 ric) in(, re wc ) 111(1 bc . 1 11 . 11]() 74 1.1Wycl ' 5 . 11 . quiltellt, anll th. lt is mit her style. She goes i.irtlier t<) shi)w why H:irl:in was indically cgnlitirian 011 nice Ithrt, ligh hoth his liresliyteri, inism and his lkpublicanisml, whilelt thus. ime time helieving that people of different races had to earn bcith respect and PL, sition by virliic Lit theil· hilIi1 . iii bi· havior rather than their skin color. This is : 1 1( implicated hislt) rical argument, hul Harlan was : 1 complicated m:n. Thanks t<)hzybyszcwski, we c.111 n<, w Iwl ihai we be,Kin 11·zily to understand this enigmatic luslice fcir the first time. 11( VIEWS Stanley N. K. itz Wix) drc) w Wilson Sclic),) 1 i· inceto/ 1 thijh' evijti· 47 ...