Righteous Anger at the Wicked States: The Meaning of the Founders' Constitution

ISBN-13: 9780521757522 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 312 str.

Calvin H. Johnson

Opis

This book is a history that explains the adoption of the U.S. Constitution in terms of what the proponents of the Constitution were trying to accomplish. The Constitution was a revolutionary document replacing the confederation mode with a complete three-part national government supreme over the states. The most pressing need was to allow the federal government to tax to pay off the Revolutionary War debts. In the next war, the United States would need to borrow again. The taxes needed to restore the public credit proved to be quite modest, however, and the Constitution went far beyond the immediate fiscal needs. This book argues that the proponents anger at the states for their recurring breaches of duty to the united cause explains both critical steps and the driving impetus for the revolution. Other issues were less important."

Recenzje

'Calvin Johnson has carefully retraced the story of the writing, ratification and implementation of the U.S. Constitution to put forth a fresh and arresting explanation for the drive to replace the Articles of Confederation.' Joyce Appleby, Professor Emerita, UCLA Department of History

Spis treści

Introduction; Part I. The Necessity of the Constitution: 1. The rise of the righteous anger; 2. Madison's vision: requisitions and rights; 3. The superiority of the extended republic; 4. Shifting the foundations of government from the states to the people; 5. Partial losses; 6. Anti-federalism; 7. False issues; Part II. Less Convincing Factors: 8. The modesty of the original commerce clause; 9. Creditors, territories, and shaysites; 10. Hamilton's constitution; 11. The turning of Madison; Concluding summary; Acknowledgments.