The Constitutional Convention and the Formation of the Union

The American Constitution was hammered out in debates by the founding fathers at the 1787 Philadelphia Convention. 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 Winton U. 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, biographical sketches of each participant in the Philadelphia Convention, and population figures on which representation was to be based.
 

Winton U. Solberg is professor emeritus of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His many publications include The University of Illinois, 1894-1904: The Shaping of the University and Redeem the Time: The Puritan Sabbath in Early America.