This, the first of two volumes of 'Liberty and Union', is a comprehensive constitutional history of the United States from the Anglo-American origins of the Constitution through the colonial and antebellum periods, to the Civil War and the consequent restructuring of the nation. Written in a clear and engaging narrative style, it successfully unites thorough chronological coverage with a thematic approach, offering critical analysis of core constitutional history topics, set in the political, social, and economic context that made them constitutional issues in the first place.

This, the first of two volumes of 'Liberty and Union', is a comprehensive constitutional history of the United States from the Anglo-American origins of the Constitution through the colonial and antebellum periods, to the Civil War and the consequent restructuring of the nation. Written in a clear and engaging narrative style, it successfully unites thorough chronological coverage with a thematic approach, offering critical analysis of core constitutional history topics, set in the political, social, and economic context that made them constitutional issues in the first place.