This challenging book explores the debates over the scope of the enumerated powers of Congress and the Fourteenth Amendment that accompanied the expansion of federal authority during the period between the beginning of the Civil War and the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The Rise of the Federal Colossus: The Growth of Federal Power from Lincoln to F.D.R. offers readers a front-row seat for the critical phases of a debate that is at the very center of American history, exploring such controversial issues as what powers are bestowed on the federal government, what its role should be, and how the Constitution should be interpreted. The book argues that the critical period in the growth of federal power was not the New Deal and the three decades that followed, but the preceding 72 years when important precedents establishing the national government's authority to aid citizens in distress, regulate labor, and take steps to foster economic growth were established. The author explores newspaper and magazine articles, as well as congressional debates and court opinions, to determine how Americans perceived the growing authority of their national government and examine arguments over whether novel federal activities had any constitutional basis. Responses of government to the enormous changes that took place during this period are also surveyed.

Table of Contents:
Series Foreword Introduction Chapter 1 Federalism and War, 1861–1865 The Assembling of Armies Federal Rule in Wartime Republican Innovations Consolidation and Victory Chapter 2 The Constitution Obscured, 1865–1877 Restoration Revolution Redemption Chapter 3 Federalism in the Gilded Age, 1877–1901 Pecuniary Issues Federal Novelties The Industrial Abyss and the Southern Revival Federalism, Regulation, and the Gilded Age Supreme Court The National Pork Barrel Labor and Money Chapter 4 The Progressive Era and American Federalism, 1901–1921 The Erosion of State Authority The Discovery of National Authority Democrats and National Authority Federalism and the Weight of War Chapter 5 Places at the Trough, 1921–1933 Mutual Exploitation: The Interest Groups Jazz Age Federalism Due Process, Incorporation, and the Regulation of Speech Farmers and Republicans Federalism and the Great Depression Notes Select Bibliography Index