During a career as both a lawyer and a Supreme Court justice, Benjamin R. Curtis addressed practically every major constitutional question of the mid-nineteenth century, making judgments that still resonate in American law. Aside from a family memoir written by his brother over one hundred years ago, however, no book-length treatment of Curtis exists. Now Stuart Streichler has filled this gap in judicial biography, using Curtis’s life and work as a window on the most serious constitutional crisis in American history, the Civil War. Curtis was the lead attorney for President Andrew Johnson in the Senate’s impeachment trial, where he delivered the pivotal argument, and his was an influential voice in the pervasive constitutional struggle between states and the federal government. He is best remembered, however, for dissenting in the Dred Scott case, in which he disputed Chief Justice Taney’s proslavery ruling that no black person could ever become a citizen of the United States. In the wake of the decision, Curtis resigned from the court, the only justice in the Supreme Court’s history to do so on grounds of principle. Yet he also clashed with Boston’s abolitionists over enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act, and he opposed the Emancipation Proclamation. In a period when the Constitution was radically transformed from a charter that protected slavery to one that granted all persons equal rights of citizenship, Justice Curtis maintained his faith in the Constitution as an adaptable instrument of self-government and tried to mark out a path for gradual change. Streichler assesses Curtis’s common-law methods in the context of his divisive times and shows how the judge’s views continue to shed light on issues that have become once again relevant, such as the presidential impeachment process and, after 9/11, the use of military tribunals to try civilians. ​"Stuart Streichler has now provided a comprehensive, readable, and sympathetic biography of Justice Curtis that masterfully fills that gap and hopefully will bring new attention to this important nineteenth-century figure. . . . Curtis had a long and complicated career debating the meaning and implications of the Constitution, and Streichler provides a welcome introduction to those debates and Curtis's role in them." —Keith E. Whittington, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics, Princeton University "In this important new book, Stuart Streichler finally gives Benjamin Curtis the sustained scholarly attention he deserves and makes a persuasive case that we need both to rethink the traditional understanding of Curtis's dissent [in the Dred Scott case] and to restore him as one of the leading constitutional thinkers of his era. . . . a nuanced and original analysis of the different opinions in Dred Scott . . . . If only to better understand the meaning and dynamics of Scott v. Sandford , there has long been a need for a biography of Benjamin Curtis. Not only has Streichler admirably met this need, he has also successfully made Curtis an essential part of the discussion of constitutional thought and interpretation in the era of the Civil War." —Daniel W. Hamilton, formerly Dean, Boyd Law School, University of Nevada, Las Vegas "An excellent work. . . . adds considerable insight into the evolving nature of nineteenth-century constitutional history." — American Journal of Legal History "A graceful and rewarding study of jurisprudence-in-action, making this one of those rare books that sits comfortably both in the research library and on the nightstand. . . . A fascinating story. Streichler's prose is fluid, and he is particularly deft at explaining difficult legal concepts in plain English. Anyone wishing to understand more about the transforming power of the Civil War era on American constitutional thought and practice will benefit from reading this book. . . . A first-rate work on an important figure." —H-Net Reviews in the Humanities & Social Sciences "Relating the law and action to the underlying ideas and wider social context, Streichler's is a model study of the American legal mind at work." —Tony A. Freyer, Professor Emeritus, University of Alabama "The depth and breadth of Streichler's research is impressive, and his dedication to use of original documents is a testament to the efforts he put into this work. . . . The chapter dedicated to Curtis's defense of Andrew Johnson during his impeachment trial should be required reading for students of American Politics or the presidency." — Law and Politics Book Review "Thorough, informative, and insightful study of Curtis's role in the constitutional debates of the Civil War era." — Continuity and Change "Curtis was an extremely important political and legal figure during the nineteenth century. . . . Professor Streichler does a first-rate job. No need exists for a further biography." —Mark Graber, Carey School of Law, University of Maryland "Clear and engaging writing style. . .