The State as a Work of Art

Eric Slauter

ISBN 10: 0226761967 / ISBN 13: 9780226761961

Published by University of Chicago Press, 2011

About this Item

pp. 392 Index.

Seller Inventory # 263332714

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The State as a Work of Art
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226761967
• ISBN 13: 9780226761961
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The founding of the United States after the American Revolution was so deliberate, so inspired, and so monumental in scope that the key actors considered this new government to be a work of art framed from natural rights. Recognizing the artificial nature of the state, these early politicians believed the culture of a people should inform the development of their governing rules and bodies. Eric Slauter explores these central ideas in this extensive and novel account of the origins and meanings of the Constitution of the United States. Slauter uncovers the hidden cultural histories upon which the document rests, highlights the voices of ordinary people, and considers how the artifice of the state was challenged in its effort to sustain inalienable natural rights alongside slavery and to achieve political secularization at a moment of growing religious expression.

A complement to classic studies of the Constitution’s economic, ideological, and political origins, The State as a Work of Art sheds new light on the origins of the Constitution and on ongoing debates over its interpretation.

About the Author

Eric Slauter is Deputy Dean of the Humanities and the College at the University of Chicago, where he is associate professor of English, associate faculty member in the Divinity School, and founding director of the Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture.