Challenges to the American Founding

Challenges to the American Founding

Author: Ronald J. Pestritto

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 9780739108727

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American politics in the twentieth century and beyond represents a sharp departure from the political vision of the American founders. This volume looks to the roots of this departure in the political ideas of nineteenth-century America, where the first substantial challenges to the founders' thought arose.


The Founding Fathers

The Founding Fathers

Author: Richard B. Bernstein

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 0190273518

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This concise and elegant contribution to the Very Short Introduction series reintroduces the history that shaped the founding fathers, the history that they made, and what history has made of them. The book provides a context within which to explore the world of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, and Hamilton, as well as their complex and still-controversial achievements and legacies.


Vindicating the Founders

Vindicating the Founders

Author: Thomas G. West

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published: 2000-11-28

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1442210273

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This controversial, convincing, and highly original book is important reading for everyone concerned about the origins, present, and future of the American experiment in self-government.


The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration

The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration

Author: Edward J. Erler

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published: 2007-02-23

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 0742580458

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Working with the underlying premise that America's founding principles continue to be vital in the modern era, Erler, Marini, and West take a conservative look at immigration, one of today's most pressing political issues. Character_the capacity to live a life befitting republican citizens_is, as the Founders knew, crucial to the debate about immigration. The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration seeks to revive the issue of republican character in the current immigration debate and to elucidate the constitutional foundations of American citizenship. Published in cooperation with the Claremont Institute.


Understanding the Founding

Understanding the Founding

Author: Alan Gibson

Publisher: University Press of Kansas

Published: 2010-09-07

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 0700617523

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The first edition of Alan Gibson's Understanding the Founding is widely regarded as an invaluable guide to the last century's key debates surrounding America's founding. This new edition retains all of the strengths of the original while adding a substantial new section addressing a major but previously unaddressed issue and also significantly revising Gibson's invaluable conclusion and bibliography. In the original edition, which was built upon his previous work in Interpreting the Founding, Gibson addressed four key questions: Were the Framers motivated by their economic interests? How democratic was the Framers' Constitution? Should we interpret the Founding using philosophical or strictly historical approaches? What traditions of political thought were most important to the Framers? He focused especially on the preconceptions that scholars brought to these questions, explored the deepest sources of scholars' disagreements over them, and suggested new and thoughtful lines of interpretation and inquiry. His incisive analysis brought clarity to the complex and sprawling debates and shed new light on the institutional and intellectual foundations of the American political system. Gibson has now added a path-breaking new chapter entitled "How Could They Have Done That? Founding Scholarship and the Question of Moral Responsibility," which reprises and critiques on of the most important and vexing contemporary debates on the American founding. The new chapter focuses on how the men who fought a revolution in the name of liberty and declared to the world that "all men are created equal" could have supported the institution of slavery and even owned slaves themselves, accepted the legal and social subordination of women, and been responsible for Indian removal and genocide against Native Americans. Efforts to criticize or defend the Founders on these issues now constitute a daunting body of scholarship addressing what David Brion Davis has called the "dilemmas of slaveholding revolutionaries." Gibson's astute and fair-minded analysis of this scholarship offers keen insights into how we might move toward more mature and responsible evaluations of the Founders.


Four Threats

Four Threats

Author: Suzanne Mettler

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2020-08-11

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9781250244420

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An urgent, historically-grounded take on the four major factors that undermine American democracy, and what we can do to address them. While many Americans despair of the current state of U.S. politics, most assume that our system of government and democracy itself are invulnerable to decay. Yet when we examine the past, we find that to the contrary, the United States has undergone repeated crises of democracy, from the earliest days of the republic to the present. In The Four Threats, Robert C. Lieberman and Suzanne Mettler explore five historical episodes when democracy in the United States was under siege: the 1790s, the Civil War, the Gilded Age, the Depression, and Watergate. These episodes risked profound, even fatal, damage to the American democratic experiment, and on occasion antidemocratic forces have prevailed. From this history, four distinct characteristics of democratic disruption emerge. Political polarization, racism and nativism, economic inequality, and excessive executive power – alone or in combination – have threatened the survival of the republic, but it has survived, so far. What is unique, and alarming, about the present moment is that all four conditions are present in American politics today. This formidable convergence marks the contemporary era as an especially grave moment for democracy in the United States. But history provides a valuable repository from which contemporary Americans can draw lessons about how democracy was eventually strengthened — or in some cases weakened — in the past. By revisiting how earlier generations of Americans faced threats to the principles enshrined in the Constitution, we can see the promise and the peril that have led us to the present and chart a path toward repairing our civic fabric and renewing democracy.


Founding Fathers 1760–1820

Founding Fathers 1760–1820

Author: A.J. Kingston

Publisher: A.J. Kingston

Published: 101-01-01

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 183938428X

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Discover the Untold Stories of America's Founding Fathers - A Comprehensive Book Bundle 📚 Are you fascinated by the birth of the United States and the visionary individuals who shaped its destiny? 🔍 Do you crave a deeper understanding of the challenges, triumphs, and complexities that marked this pivotal era in history? Introducing the "Founding Fathers 1760–1820: The Birth of the United States" book bundle - an immersive journey through the transformative period that laid the groundwork for the nation we know today. 🎁 What's Included: · Book 1 - Seeds of Revolution: Dive into the formative years that ignited the flames of rebellion. Uncover the daring ideas, passionate dissent, and the relentless pursuit of liberty that set the stage for revolution. · Book 2 - Forging a Constitution: Witness the birth of a nation's guiding document as the Founding Fathers engage in impassioned debates, delicate compromises, and visionary crafting of the Constitution. Explore the very essence of democratic principles that continue to shape the nation's identity. · Book 3 - Frontiers of Democracy: Journey alongside the Founders as they navigate the complexities of governance in a new republic. Experience the challenges of implementing ideals, the emergence of political factions, and the Founders' relentless pursuit of unity and prosperity. · Book 4 - Patriots and Statesmen: Witness the legacy of the Founding Fathers as the nation faces monumental changes. From territorial expansion to societal shifts, trace the profound impact of these remarkable individuals in shaping America's trajectory. 🧐 Why Choose This Bundle? · Comprehensive Exploration: Immerse yourself in four meticulously researched volumes that encompass the entire spectrum of the Founding Fathers' contributions and challenges. · Rich Narrative: Expertly crafted storytelling brings history to life, making these books accessible and engaging for both history enthusiasts and newcomers. · In-Depth Insight: Gain an unparalleled understanding of the people, ideas, and events that shaped the United States during its formative years. · Legacy and Lessons: Reflect on the timeless lessons and legacies left by the Founding Fathers, offering profound insights into contemporary challenges and aspirations. 🌟 Whether you're a history buff, a curious learner, or simply seeking inspiration from the remarkable individuals who paved the way for a new nation, "Founding Fathers 1760–1820: The Birth of the United States" is the ultimate bundle to enrich your understanding of America's origins. 🛍️ Secure your bundle today and embark on a transformative journey through history - a journey that unveils the courage, intellect, and perseverance of the Founding Fathers who laid the cornerstone of the United States. Experience the birth of a nation like never before! Limited-Time Offer: Get the complete "Founding Fathers 1760–1820: The Birth of the United States" bundle now and receive an exclusive discount. Don't miss out on this opportunity to own a comprehensive collection that celebrates the Founders' legacy and their enduring impact on the world.


The American Founding

The American Founding

Author: Daniel N. Robinson

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2012-06-28

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 1441142444

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Renowned scholars examine the core precepts that guided the American Founding, looking at the Founders' intellectual groundings from philosophy of law to architecture.


Interpreting the Founding

Interpreting the Founding

Author: Alan Ray Gibson

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780700614530

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Comprehensive and judicious, Interpreting the Founding provides summaries and analyses of the leading interpretive frameworks that have guided the study of the Founding since the publication of Charles Beard's An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution in 1913. Gibson argues that scholarship on the Founding is no longer steered by a single dominant approach or even by a set of questions that control its direction. He also examines the challenges posed to Founding scholarship by this diversity and complexity and the possibilities opened by new avenues of inquiry that have recently emerged. The book features extended discussions of pioneering works by leading scholars of the Founding - including Louis Hartz, Bernard Bailyn, Gordon Wood, and Garry Wills - that best exemplify different schools of interpretation. Gibson focuses on six approaches that have dominated the modern study of the Founding: Progressive, Lockean/liberal, Republican, Scottish Enlightenment, multicultural, and multiple traditions approaches. For each approach, he traces its fundamental assumptions, revealing deeper ideological and methodological differences between schools of thought that, on the surface, seem to differ only about the interpretation of historical facts.


Fears of a Setting Sun

Fears of a Setting Sun

Author: Dennis C. Rasmussen

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2022-09-27

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0691241414

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The surprising story of how George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson came to despair for the future of the nation they had created Americans seldom deify their Founding Fathers any longer, but they do still tend to venerate the Constitution and the republican government that the founders created. Strikingly, the founders themselves were far less confident in what they had wrought, particularly by the end of their lives. In fact, most of them—including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson—came to deem America’s constitutional experiment an utter failure that was unlikely to last beyond their own generation. Fears of a Setting Sun is the first book to tell the fascinating and too-little-known story of the founders’ disillusionment. As Dennis Rasmussen shows, the founders’ pessimism had a variety of sources: Washington lost his faith in America’s political system above all because of the rise of partisanship, Hamilton because he felt that the federal government was too weak, Adams because he believed that the people lacked civic virtue, and Jefferson because of sectional divisions laid bare by the spread of slavery. The one major founder who retained his faith in America’s constitutional order to the end was James Madison, and the book also explores why he remained relatively optimistic when so many of his compatriots did not. As much as Americans today may worry about their country’s future, Rasmussen reveals, the founders faced even graver problems and harbored even deeper misgivings. A vividly written account of a chapter of American history that has received too little attention, Fears of a Setting Sun will change the way that you look at the American founding, the Constitution, and indeed the United States itself.