The Jacksonian Conservatism of Rufus P. Ranney Ohio University Press Series on Law, Society, and Politics in the Midwest SERIES EDITORS: PAUL FINKELMAN AND L. DIANE BARNES The History of Ohio Law, edited by Michael Les Benedict and John F. Winkler Frontiers of Freedom: Cincinnati’s Black Community, 1802–1868, by Nikki M. Taylor A Place of Recourse: A History of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, 1803–2003, by Roberta Sue Alexander The Black Laws: Race and the Legal Process in Early Ohio, by Stephen Middleton The History of Indiana Law, edited by David J. Bodenhamer and Hon. Randall T. Shepard The History of Michigan Law, edited by Paul Finkelman and Martin J. Hershock The Fairer Death: Executing Women in Ohio, by Victor L. Streib The Rescue of Joshua Glover: A Fugitive Slave, the Constitution, and the Coming of the Civil War, by H. Robert Baker The History of Nebraska Law, edited by Alan G. Gless American Pogrom: The East St. Louis Race Riot and Black Politics, by Charles L. Lumpkins No Winners Here Tonight: Race, Politics, and Geography in One of the Country’s Busiest Death Penalty States, by Andrew Welsh-Huggins Democracy in Session: A History of the Ohio General Assembly, by David M. Gold The Dred Scott Case: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Race and Law, edited by David Thomas Konig, Paul Finkelman, and Christopher Alan Bracey The Jury in Lincoln’s America, by Stacy Pratt McDermott Degrees of Allegiance: Harassment and Loyalty in Missouri’s German-American Community during World War I, by Petra DeWitt Justice and Legal Change on the Shores of Lake Erie: A History of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, edited by Paul Finkelman and Roberta Sue Alexander The Life and Death of Gus Reed: A Story of Race and Justice in Illinois during the Civil War and Reconstruction, by Thomas Bahde Surveillance and Spies in the Civil War: Exposing Confederate Conspiracies in America’s Heartland, by Stephen E. Towne The Jacksonian Conservatism of Rufus P. Ranney: The Politics and Jurisprudence of a Northern Democrat from the Age of Jackson to the Gilded Age, by David M. Gold DAVID M. GOLD The Jacksonian Conservatism of Rufus P. Ranney THE POLITICS AND JURISPRUDENCE OF A NORTHERN DEMOCRAT FROM THE AGE OF JACKSON TO THE GILDED AGE Ohio University Press Athens Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701 © 2017 by Ohio University Press All rights reserved To obtain permission to quote, reprint, or otherwise reproduce or distribute material from Ohio University Press publications, please contact our rights and permissions department at (740) 593-1154 or (740) 593-4536 (fax). Cover image and frontispiece courtesy of the Ohio History Connection. Printed in the United States of America Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gold, David M., 1950– author. Title: The Jacksonian conservatism of Rufus P. Ranney : the politics and jurisprudence of a northern Democrat from the Age of Jackson to the Gilded Age / David M. Gold. Description: Athens : Ohio University Press, 2016. | Series: Ohio University Press series on law, society, and politics in the Midwest | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016048996| ISBN 9780821422342 (hc : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780821445792 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Judges—Ohio—Biography. | Ranney, R. P. (Rufus Percival), 1813–1891. Classification: LCC KF373.R36 G65 2016 | DDC 347.771/035092 [B] —dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016048996 CONTENTS
TWO. The Constitutional Convention: Corporations and Citizens
THREE. The Constitutional Convention: Government
FIVE. The Republican Challenge
NINE. Conservative Reform in the Gilded Age
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Professional historians usually have lots of help in thinking about, researching, and writing their books. In formal acknowledgments they customarily thank fellow professors, graduate assistants, support staff, funding entities, and others who aided them. They also absolve everyone but themselves from any responsibility
