Beyond Confederation (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American Histo) - Softcover

Richard Beeman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807841722 ISBN 13: 9780807841723

Publisher: Omohundro Institute and University of North Carolina Press, 1987

Synopsis

Beyond Confederation scrutinizes the ideological background of the U.S. Constitution, the rigors of its writing and ratification, and the problems it both faced and provoked immediately after ratification. The essays in this collection question much of the heritage of eighteenth-century constitutional thought and suggest that many of the commonly debated issues have led us away from the truly germane questions. The authors challenge many of the traditional generalizations and the terms and scope of that debate as well.
The contributors raise fresh questions about the Constitution as it enters its third century. What happened in Philadelphia in 1787, and what happened in the state ratifying conventions? Why did the states -- barely -- ratify the Constitution? What were Americans of the 1789s attempting to achieve? The exploratory conclusions point strongly to an alternative constitutional tradition, some of it unwritten, much of it rooted in state constitutional law; a tradition that not only has redefined the nature and role of the Constitution but also has placed limitations on its efficacy throughout American history.
The authors are Lance Banning, Richard Beeman, Stephen Botein, Richard D. Brown, Richard E. Ellis, Paul Finkelman, Stanley N. Katz, Ralph Lerner, Drew R. McCoy, John M. Murrin, Jack N. Rakove, Janet A. Riesman, and Gordon S. Wood.

About this title

About the Authors

Richard Beeman is professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania.

The late Stephen Botein was professor of history at Michigan State University.

Edward C. Carter II is librarian of the American Philosophical Society and editor-in-chief of The Papers of Benjamin Henry Latrobe.

From the Back Cover

The focus of 'Beyond Confederation' is the Constitution of the United States in its own era. The authors scrutinize the ideological background of the Constitution, the rigors of its writing and ratification, and the problems it both faced and provoked immediately after ratification. The essays question much of the heritage of eighteenth-century constitutional thought and suggest that many of the commonly debated issues have led us away from the truly germane questions.

Edition details

• Publisher: Omohundro Institute and University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807841722
• ISBN 13: 9780807841723
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 376
• Editor: Edward C. Carter II, Stephen Botein