This essay examines the important role of the contract clause in constitutional law during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Although scholars have given little attention to the contract clause during this pivotal era, these years witnessed a torrent of litigation involving this provision of the Constitution. The paper surveys a wide range of topics, including the status of contracts calling for payment in Confederate currency, the legality of state laws barring enforcement of contracts for the purchase of slaves, and the validity of the Legal Tender Act of 1862. Debt relief measures in the Reconstruction South were a fertile source of contract clause litigation. Highly controversial moves by state legislatures to enlarge the amount of homestead exemptions and to apply such exemptions retroactively to prior contacts were blocked by the Supreme Court as violations of the contract clause. The essay also treats the interplay between the Supreme Court and the state courts in the interpretation and application of the provision. It concludes that Supreme Court was stalwart in upholding the contract clause during the Civil War and Reconstruction, but notes that the provision gradually declined in significance after 1880.

中文翻译：

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内战和重建期间的合同条款

本文考察了合同条款在内战和重建期间在宪法中的重要作用。尽管在这个关键时期，学者们对合同条款的关注很少，但这些年却见证了涉及宪法条款的诉讼洪流。该论文调查了广泛的主题，包括要求以邦联货币付款的合同的状况、禁止执行购买奴隶合同的州法律的合法性以及 1862 年《法定投标法》的有效性。 债务减免措施在重建南部是合同条款诉讼的肥沃来源。州立法机构为扩大宅基地免税额并将此类豁免追溯适用于先前接触的极具争议性的举措被最高法院阻止，因为它违反了合同条款。本文还讨论了最高法院和州法院在解释和适用该条款方面的相互作用。它的结论是，最高法院在内战和重建期间坚决支持合同条款，但指出该条款的重要性在 1880 年之后逐渐下降。