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In Only One Place of Redress David E. Bernstein offers a bold reinterpretation of American legal history: he argues that American labor and occupational laws, enacted by state and federal governments after the Civil War and into the twentieth century, benefited dominant groups in society to the detriment of those who lacked political power. Both intentionally and incidentally, claims Bernstein, these laws restricted in particular the job mobility and economic opportunity of blacks.
A pioneer in applying the insights of public choice theory to legal history, Bernstein contends that the much-maligned jurisprudence of the Lochner era-with its emphasis on freedom of contract and private market ordering-actually discouraged discrimination and assisted groups with little political clout. To support this thesis he examines the motivation behind and practical impact of laws restricting interstate labor recruitment, occupational licensing laws, railroad labor laws, minimum wage statutes, the Davis-Bacon Act, and New Deal collective bargaining. He concludes that the ultimate failure of Lochnerism-and the triumph of the regulatory state-not only strengthened racially exclusive labor unions but contributed to a massive loss of employment opportunities for African Americans, the effects of which continue to this day.
Scholars and students interested in race relations, labor law, and legal
or constitutional history will be fascinated by Bernstein’s daring-and controversial-argument.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction 1
1. Emigrant Agent Laws
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2. Licensing Laws 121
3. Railroad Labor Regulations
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4. Prevailing-Wage Laws
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5. New Deal Labor Laws 353
Documents
Section 1: Federal Acts and Resolutions 486
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Section 2: State Legislation 519
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Section 3: Municipal Resolutions 537
Section 4: Advocacy and Activism 560
Section 5: Case Studies of Redress
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Section 6: Lawsuits 661
Selected Bibliography 673
Contributors 683
Acknowledgment of Copyrights 687 687
Index 691
Über den Autor / die Autorin
David E. Bernstein is Associate Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law and coeditor of Phantom Risk: Scientific Inference and the Law.
Zusammenfassung
Offering a bold reinterpretation of American legal history, the author argues that American labor and occupational laws, enacted by state and federal governments after the Civil War and into the twentieth century, benefited dominant groups in society to the detriment of those who lacked political power.
