The Insular Cases and the Emergence of American Empire

“A scholarly feat. Not only does Sparrow make the complex legal argument crystal clear, but he also delves deeply into the political and cultural factors underlying each opinion. . . . His work is also a study of empire, formal and informal, at the turn of the nineteenth century that he makes fascinatingly relevant to our own time.”—Journal of American History

“Sparrow’s research is exceedingly impressive. . . . He has written a learned and thematically probing commentary on thirty-five Supreme Court decisions that established the constitutional standing and legal rights of the inhabitants of the new territories. He carefully locates this analysis in the relevant racial, economic, and political contexts; informatively traces the Court’s changing composition and dynamics; and provides engaging biographical sketches of the justices. . . . The Insular Cases were central to governing America’s island empire acquired at the turn of the twentieth century, much of which remains in existence. . . . [This book] . . . certainly contributes to our understanding of the American justification for and practice of imperialism.”—Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

“An impressively researched and detailed work of political and legal history. . . . This will be an invaluable reference to anyone seeking to understand the historical and political context of these unjustly neglected cases.”—Law and Politics Book Review

“Sparrow demonstrates that these cases marked a fundamental shift in constitutional law and reoriented the United States’ relations with the world in ways that are still highly relevant today. . . . America’s empire is more than ever insular in character. Sparrow’s fine book forces us to confront this fact and rethink the decisions that not only excluded island peoples from the protection of the United States constitution, but undermined the constitution itself, leading directly to some of the disgraceful abuses of human rights revealed on islands and islanded places everywhere America now holds sway.”—Island Studies Journal

“The Insular Cases are among the most important, disturbing, and yet neglected of the nation’s constitutional landmarks. Today, when talk of a new American empire abounds and terrorist threats have created pressures to limit the rights of aliens and suspect citizens, these precedents are more significant than ever. Sparrow’s thorough and sobering guide to the Cases is timely and valuable.”—Rogers M. Smith, author of Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History

“Sparrow is a sure-footed guide through the territory covered by the Supreme Court in its two-decade confrontation with the constitutional issues raised by American expansion at the end of the nineteenth century. Along the way he illuminates important questions about the nature of American imperialism and constitutional interpretation. As he hopes, this book will place the Insular Cases in the canon of cases all students of the Constitution must take seriously.”—Mark Tushnet, author of The New Constitutional Order

“A wonderful, sophisticated, and comprehensive analysis of an extremely important yet neglected set of landmark cases. Sparrow brings to life the political debates triggered by the conquests of 1898 and shows how considerations of race, religion, and political greatness transformed both constitutional understandings and the meaning of American nationhood. . . . A major contribution.”—Howard Gillman, author of The Constitution Besieged: The Rise and Demise of Lochner Era Police Powers Jurisprudence

“A fascinating discussion of the judicial proceedings and constitutional debates surrounding these cases. An effortless read, it is also a welcome addition to the study of American imperialism.”—Louis A. Perez, Jr., author of On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, and Culture