Gerard Magliocca reinterprets the legal landmarks of the Jacksonian era to demonstrate how the meaning of the Constitution evolves in a cyclical and predictable fashion. He highlights the battles fought by Jacksonian Democrats against Federalists and Republicans over states' rights, presidential authority, the scope of federal power, and other issues. By doing so he shows how presidential politics, Supreme Court decisions, and congressional maneuverings interweave, creating a recurrent pattern of constitutional change.

Preface to the paperback edition--p.xi-xii.

List of illustrations -- Preface to the paperback edition -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction : On the constitutional rhythm -- The rise of Jacksonian democracy -- Presidential reconstruction -- Judicial resistance : Worcester v. Georgia -- The bank veto and the election of 1832 -- Triumph and tears -- Chance and the Whig false positive -- The rise of abolitionism -- Judicial resistance : Dred Scott v. Sandford -- The Fourteenth Amendment in Jackson's shadow -- Conclusion : In search of the missing Constitution.