The Battle for the Constitution (Paperback)

Paperback. The Constitution was written in Philadelphia. The battle over it was fought across America.In 1787, the United States was still an experiment. Independence had been won, but the government created during the Revolution was struggling to hold thirteen states together. When the Constitutional Convention proposed an entirely new system of government, Americans faced a question almost as consequential as independence itself: Should they accept it?The answer was anything but certain.Federalists and Anti-Federalists carried their arguments into newspapers, pamphlets, taverns, homes, and ratifying conventions. They fought over the power of the federal government, the rights of the states, representation, taxation, the courts, executive authority, individual liberty, and whether the proposed Constitution protected freedom-or endangered it.The Battle for the Constitution: The Ratification Debate in Print returns to that remarkable moment when the Constitution was still only a proposal and its future remained unsettled.Through an engaging historical narrative woven together with the arguments Americans actually read during the ratification struggle, Michael A. Monaco follows the debate from the troubled years after the Revolution through the adoption of the Constitution and the struggle that produced the Bill of Rights.The familiar story of the Founding becomes something different when the ending is no longer taken for granted. The Constitution did not simply emerge from Philadelphia and become the government of the United States. It had to be defended, challenged, debated, and ultimately accepted by a divided public.Before Americans could live under the Constitution, they first had to decide whether they trusted it.TCP Americana Collection - Volume II This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…