The Debate on the Constitution : Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle over... |
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The Debate on the Constitution : Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle over...
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by Bernard Bailyn
Sales Rank: 13367
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Discount: 34 %
List Price: $35.00
$23.10
At Amazon
on 4-19-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 1214 pages
Published by: Library of America June 1, 1993
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0940450429
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0940450424
Book Dimensions:
8 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
Weighs: 1.6 pounds
Bill Moyers
The best resource I've seen for understanding the morning headlines in a long time.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Nina Totenberg, National Public Radio
For Americans this is Shakespeare, and more. Not only is it wonderful writing, it is wonderful thinking.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Reader Reviews
Editor Bernard Bailyn has assembled a first-rate collection of letters, circulars, pamphlets, speeches, and what would be the colonial equivalent of modern op-ed pieces that allows today's readers to witness the founding of a government through the eyes of (and with the voices of) those who were really there. But don't be fooled into thinking this is going to be the stilted, polite prose that often belongs to 18th century philosophers or debaters. Many of the pieces Bailyn has selected are remakrkably spry and teeming with understated wit. Those who think that mud-slinging, negative campaigning, and assaults on the integrity of the opponent are modern day creations may be surprised to see that those in the 18th century could be just as nitpicky, petty, and ascerbic as their present day decendants -- and yet still remain surprisingly gentlemanly about the whole thing. Some letter writers absolutely seethe with irritation at their opposition, and by presenting his debaters in roughly chronological order, Bailyn ensures that for every "Oh yeah?" uttered by a Federalist, there will soon be a responsive "Yeah!" from the anti-Federalist side. It all makes for lively and informative reading, and one wonders if such a critical debate could be carried out with such manners in today's media. It should come as no surprise that most of the Hamilton-Madison-Jay Federalist Papers are in here, as are the level-headed, persuasive anti-Federalist arguments of James Wilson and George Mason. But the real jewels in these volumes lie in the thoughtful and frank correspondence that passed back and forth between not only the Major Players, but also between some of the lesser-known writers, who make their cases for or against the Constitution with genuine passion and conviction. Bailyn wisely leaves the spin to the writers themselves, but when he does step in, Bailyn is a most helpful editor, and the final 240 pages contain short biographies of every writer (or letter recipient) in the book, an informative chronology of events (and Bailyn makes sure readers have a perspective for the debates in this book by starting the chronology in 1774, some 13 years before the first words in this book were spoken), and competent notes on the text to help readers unfamiliar with some of the players or events keep everything sorted out. Even though we all have the luxury of knowing that Everything Came Out All Right In The End -- the Constitution was ratified -- there is still quite a bit of drama here, particularly in the debates in the State Ratifying Conventions, which are carried out with suitable handwringing and bluster on both sides. Appropriately, then, the final piece in here is the dramatic speech the previously skeptical John Hancock delivered in the Massachusetts convention, informing his colleagues he would, indeed, vote for ratification. Hancock's words are as stirring now as they were then -- but I'll let you read them for yourself. If you have the opportunity, purchase both Volume I and Volume II together. Not only will you get the complete debates (Volume I ends in February 1788; volume II is needed to make it to August), but you'll also get one of the Library of America's typically attractive slip-cases. It's a little more expensive, but worth it.
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The Debate on the Constitution : Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle over...
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