The Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention

Author: James Madison

Publisher: Modern Library

Published: 2011-04-06

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0307789209

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In 1787, the American union was in disarray. The incompatible demands of the separate states threatened its existence; some states were even in danger of turning into the kind of tyranny they had so recently deposed. A truly national government was needed, one that could raise money, regulate commerce, and defend the states against foreign threats–without becoming as overbearing as England. So thirty-six-year-old James Madison believed. That summer, the Virginian was instrumental in organizing the Constitutional Convention, in which one of the world’s greatest documents would be debated, created, and signed. Inspired by a sense of history in the making, he kept the most extensive notes of any attendee.Now two esteemed scholars have made these minutes accessible to everyone. Presented with modern punctuation and spelling, judicious cuts, and helpful notes–plus fascinating background information on every delegate and an overview of the tumultuous times–here is the great drama of how the Constitution came to be, from the opening statements to the final votes. This Modern Library Paperback Classic also includes an Introduction and appendices from the authors.

Decision in Philadelphia
Decision in Philadelphia

Author: Christopher Collier

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Published: 2012-05-01

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 162064195X

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Fifty-five men met in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a document that would create a country and change a world: the Constitution. Here is a remarkable rendering of that fateful time, told with humanity and humor. Decision in Philadelphia is the best popular history of the Constitutional Convention; in it, the life and times of eighteenth century America not only come alive, but the very human qualities of the men who framed the document are brought provocatively into focus-casting many of the Founding Fathers in a new light. A celebration of how and why our Constitution came into being, Decision in Philadelphia is also a testament of the American spirit at its finest.

The Constitutional Convention of 1787
The Constitutional Convention of 1787

Author: John Patrick Coby

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2022-07-01

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1469672278

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The Constitutional Convention of 1787 brings to life the debates that most profoundly shaped American government. As representatives to the convention, students must investigate the ideological arguments behind possible structures for a new government and create a new constitution.

Madison’s Hand
Madison’s Hand

Author: Mary Sarah Bilder

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2015-10-19

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 0674495500

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Winner of the Bancroft Prize Winner of the James Bradford Best Biography Prize, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic Finalist, Literary Award for Nonfiction, Library of Virginia Finalist, George Washington Prize James Madison’s Notes on the 1787 Constitutional Convention have acquired nearly unquestioned authority as the description of the U.S. Constitution’s creation. No document provides a more complete record of the deliberations in Philadelphia or depicts the Convention’s charismatic figures, crushing disappointments, and miraculous triumphs with such narrative force. But how reliable is this account? “[A] superb study of the Constitutional Convention as selectively reflected in Madison’s voluminous notes on it...Scholars have been aware that Madison made revisions in the Notes but have not intensively explored them. Bilder has looked closely indeed at the Notes and at his revisions, and the result is this lucid, subtle book. It will be impossible to view Madison’s role at the convention and read his Notes in the same uncomplicated way again...An accessible and brilliant rethinking of a crucial moment in American history.” —Robert K. Landers, Wall Street Journal

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 [2 volumes]
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 [2 volumes]

Author: John R. Vile

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2005-06-24

Total Pages: 1118

ISBN-13: 1851096744

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The first encyclopedic treatment of the personalities, politics, and events involved in drafting the U.S. Constitution. This comprehensive treatment of all the personalities, philosophies, debates, and compromises involved in drafting the U.S. Constitution is the first encyclopedic work on the subject, compiling information into an easily accessible A–Z format. Biographies of all 55 delegates, analysis of the competing political viewpoints, procedural and substantive disputes, along with a host of other details are all presented here. Both the detail and the scholarship in this book are unmatched in any other work; the encyclopedic presentation simply does not exist elsewhere. Civil liberties, the scope of authority of the three branches of government, and other constitutional matters are increasingly at the forefront of public discussion. Scholars, citizens interested in self-education, and reference librarians faced with questions about the Constitution will find in this book all they require to answer their needs.

Miracle At Philadelphia
Miracle At Philadelphia

Author: Catherine Drinker Bowen

Publisher: Back Bay Books

Published: 1986-09-30

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9780316103985

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A classic history of the Federal Convention at Philadelphia in 1787, the stormy, dramatic session that produced the most enduring of political documents: the Constitution of the United States. From Catherine Drinker Bowen, noted American biographer and National Book Award winner, comes the canonical account of the Constitutional Convention recommended as "required reading for every American." Looked at straight from the records, the Federal Convention is startlingly fresh and new, and Mrs. Bowen evokes it as if the reader were actually there, mingling with the delegates, hearing their arguments, witnessing a dramatic moment in history. Here is the fascinating record of the hot, sultry summer months of debate and decision when ideas clashed and tempers flared. Here is the country as it was then, described by contemporaries, by Berkshire farmers in Massachusetts, by Patrick Henry's Kentucky allies, by French and English travelers. Here, too, are the offstage voices--Thomas Jefferson and Tom Paine and John Adams from Europe. In all, fifty-five men attended; and in spite of the heat, in spite of clashing interests--the big states against the little, the slave states against the anti-slave states--in tension and anxiety that mounted week after week, they wrote out a working plan of government and put their signatures to it.

The Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers

Author: Alexander Hamilton

Publisher: Read Books Ltd

Published: 2018-08-20

Total Pages: 455

ISBN-13: 1528785878

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Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of “The Federalist Papers”, a collection of separate essays and articles compiled in 1788 by Alexander Hamilton. Following the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the governing doctrines and policies of the States lacked cohesion. “The Federalist”, as it was previously known, was constructed by American statesman Alexander Hamilton, and was intended to catalyse the ratification of the United States Constitution. Hamilton recruited fellow statesmen James Madison Jr., and John Jay to write papers for the compendium, and the three are known as some of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755–1804) was an American lawyer, journalist and highly influential government official. He also served as a Senior Officer in the Army between 1799-1800 and founded the Federalist Party, the system that governed the nation’s finances. His contributions to the Constitution and leadership made a significant and lasting impact on the early development of the nation of the United States.

Secret Proceedings and Debates of the Constitutional Convention, 1787
Secret Proceedings and Debates of the Constitutional Convention, 1787

Author: Robert Yates

Publisher:

Published: 2002-12-01

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 9781410203632

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One of the most important collections of documents pertaining to the formation of the Constitution of the United States. Notes on the convention taken by Robert Yates, Chief Justice of New York, and copied by John Lansing, Jun. Esquire, late chancellor of that state, members of that convention. Including "The Genuine Information, " laid before the Legislature of Maryland, by Luther Martin, Esquire, then attorney-general of that state, and member of the same convention. James Madison thought that Yates and Martin "appear to have reported in angry terms what they observed with jaundiced eyes." It must be added that in many particulars Yates' notes were fuller than Madison's own. Luther Martin's Genuine Information is a general summary of the course of the Debates, with a running criticism on the provisions of the Constitution. Also contains an appendix with documents by Edmund Randolf, and others.

The Constitutional Convention and the Formation of the Union
The Constitutional Convention and the Formation of the Union

Author: Winton U. Solberg

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 548

ISBN-13: 9780252061240

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This book contains James Madison's notes on the debates which provide a first-hand view of the drafting of the nation's fundamental charter. An introduction by Solberg places the origins of the Constitution in the broader historical perspective of the development of political theory and constitutional practice in Western civilization. The book also links the formation of the Constitution to the events of the American Revolution from the Stamp Act Crisis to the Bill of Rights. Solberg provides background on the ratification of the Constitution, biographical sketches of each participant in the Philadelphia Convention, and population figures on which representation was to be based. - Back cover.

The Constitutional Convention of 1787
The Constitutional Convention of 1787

Author: Stuart Leibiger

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2019-06-14

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13:

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This history of the 1787 Constitutional Convention uses a chronological narrative format to capture the complexity, messiness, and unfolding daily drama behind the writing of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the role of contingency in that process. The Framers of the U.S. Constitution designed a novel republican form of government to replace the failing Confederation, one that would divide power between the federal government and the states, launching a new phase of the American "experiment" in representative democracy. Not until the end of the American Civil War, nearly a century later, would it become clear, as Abraham Lincoln put it in his Gettysburg Address, "that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Reference Guide provides an invaluable guide covering the background to the convention, the convention itself, the ratification of the Constitution, and the adoption of the Bill of Rights. In addition to the narrative itself, the story of the convention is supplemented with a detailed chronology, a rich selection of primary source documents, 15 biographical sketches of convention delegates, and a comprehensive bibliographical essay. Based largely on primary sources, the book also weighs in on some of the historiographical debates that have taken place among scholars about the convention.