Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840-1920 By Akhil Reed Amar (Reviewed by Jonathan Sallet, October 20, 2025, Washington Independent Review of Books)
But atop the mountain stands “Abraham,” the constitutionalist, fusing the broadened ambitions of the Declaration of Independence with the textual provisions of the Constitution. President Lincoln thereby built a foundation for concluding that the principles underlying “a more perfect union” justified the abolition of slavery, the codification of civil rights, and universal voting rights for adult citizens.
Amar takes pains to emphasize his view that the most important originalists in U.S. history are not our right-leaning modern jurists. For example, he details Lincoln’s lawyerly analysis to support a constitutional vision that fulfils the implicit (if not the expressly worded) promise of the Declaration of Independence: moving toward equality for all.
This is inspiring stuff, but here’s the thing: Conservative jurists embrace key conclusions that Amar identifies with Lincolnian originalism — say, that Plessy v. Ferguson’s vindication of racial segregation was wrong (and, although his history does not reach into the 1950s, that Brown v. Board of Education was right). And, for instance, Justice Clarence Thomas’ self-styled originalist opinion in Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard, the case ruling that the university’s race-conscious admissions process was unconstitutional (in which Thomas quoted Amar’s earlier views approvingly).
Which leads to a pressing question in today’s constitutional moment: Does Professor Amar’s Lincolnian originalism differ from the prevailing conservative approach?
No.