For a quarter of a century between 1763 and 1788, Americans intensely debated the nature of government and the need to protect individual liberties. The debate climaxed in the arguments over the ratification of the Constitution. Through a selection of essential documents from 1787 and 1788, this new edition gives readers the flavor and immediacy of the great debate in all its fire, brilliance, and political intensity. Organized by topic, this is a convenient reference and teaching tool. This updated edition contains an entirely new section on the debate over class structure, property rights, and the economy under the proposed Constitution―an ideal introduction to a debate meaningful today.

Federalists and Antifederalists: The Debate over the Ratification of the Constitution (Constitutional Heritage Series, Vol 1)

Kaminski, John P.

Leffler, Richard

Madison House Pub

A captivating and lucid narrative of America's revolutionary generation, Jefferson's America takes the reader from the earliest rumblings of colonial dissent, through the crises of revolution and nation-making, to the heroic drama of the War of 1812. Risjord deftly weaves together strands of biography and social history with military and political history to depict the rich fabric of the young republic. While most writers on this period conclude with the end of the Revolution, the ratification of the Constitution, or the election of Jefferson, Risjord contends that there is a fundamental continuity in the history of the Early Republic. The basic problems involved in creating a stable, representative government were not resolved until the "second war of independence," a symbolic end for the Revolutionary generation, which produced a sense of national unity and determined the viability of the new nation. Risjord incorporates new social and economic perspectives, and he deals suggestively with the struggle over "who shall rule at home." Yet he still presents the pivotal events of the War for Independence, the framing of the Constitution, the "Revolution of 1800," and the war of 1812 in an interesting and understandable way. This is no watered-down version of the national myth, but a subtle and well-told story.

Jefferson's America, 1760-1815

History

RISJORD, Norman K.

Americas

No descriptive material is available for this title.

Black Itinerants of the Gospel: The Narratives of John Jea and George White

White,George

Jea, John

Religion & Spirituality

New Jersey was among the last northern states to abandon slavery.

Slavery and Freedom in the Rural North: African Americans in Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1665-1865

Hodges, Graham Russell

Representative Americans: The Revolutionary Generation

Each generation of Americans has a special flavor, a character of its own. Sometimes a memorable decade, such as the "Gay Nineties" or the "Roaring Twenties", imprinted the generation that lived and outlived it. Yet no simple rubric comes easily to mind when one thinks of the Revolutionary generation. Their accomplishments were too grand, their interests too varied, to be encompassed in a single phrase.Risjord divides this book into three sections, each exploring one of the era's dominant themes. The first section, "Nation Builders", follows the careers of military men such as George Washington and Francis Marion and examines life on the homefront through the eyes of Abigail Adams. The section headed "Character Builders" examines the lives of people who sought to mold an American national character, men such as Charles Willson Peale, Benjamin Rush, and Noah Webster. The last section explores the paradox that the Revolutionary generation also gave birth to an empire in which a self-governingpeople ruled -- sometimes tyrannically -- over others.The founders the American republic were preoccupied with the fundamentals of society and government. This book reflects this concern and also explores the lives of individuals who contributed to science and the arts.

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

This intimate unit history of the Badax Tigers chronicles the experiences of Company C of the 18th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry during the entire Civil War as seen through the eyes of Private Thomas Jefferson Davis. Davis' letters provide an extraordinarily complete picture of a typical Federal volunteer company in the Civil War and are supplemented by newspaper articles and some soldiers' letters written and intended for publication in local newspapers.When the Badax County Tigers left the small town of Viroqua, Wisconsin, in the autumn of 1861, they had little notion of what military service would demand of them. The Badax Tigers were as common a company in as common a regiment as may be found in the annals of the Civil War. They marched, camped and fought their way through four years of service with their fair share of battle honors and few blemishes to mar their record. They rallied at Shiloh, stood firm at Corinth, laid siege to Vicksburg, rescued Chattanooga, and saved Allatoona. In short, they represented the backbone of the Federal volunteer army from 1861 to 1865. When the original Tigers returned to Viroqua at the close of the war, they numbered only fourteen men out of the more than 100 recruits who had been mustered into service.

Badax Tigers

Reference

Thomas P. Nanzig

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

In the early republic, constitutional debates over federal-state relations were fundamental to party battles and divergent conceptions of republicanism. Then, as now, theories about the sources and nature of federal power informed public debate, policy, and judicial decisions. For John C. Calhoun, the recognition of the equality of the states by the federal government was a precondition for preserving and strengthening republican liberty. Republicans like James Madison and Andrew Jackson felt republicanism could only flourish if state and federal authorities confined themselves to their proper spheres. Federalists like Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Wilson believed in a more expansive role for the federal government (based on the common law and the law of nations). Lenner examines the constitutional conflicts of the republic's first decade, discusses Virginia's three Republican Presidents, the political and constitutional thought of the National and Old Republicans, the nature of the Jacksonian movement, the doctrine of dual sovereignty, and the nullification crisis. In examining the conflicts of the revolutionary era, Lenner's work provides a ground-breaking overview of the culture of constitutionalism -- the clash of ideas about the nature and structure of the Union -- that pervaded the early republic.

Federal Principles in American Politics, 1790-1833

Politics & Social Sciences

Lenner, Andrew C.

Politics & Government

The First American Constitutions: Republican Ideology and the Meaning of the State Constitutions in the Republican Era

For the last twenty years this book has been cited by every serious writer on early American constitutional development. Any constitutional history of the independent United States must begin with this comprehensive study. Professor Adams combines a European perspective and a thorough knowledge of the antecedents of 1787 to create an insightful analysis of the replacement by the revolutionary generation of one government by another by -- they thought -- "constitutional" means. Acting for "the people" in 11 of the 13 rebelling states, various kinds of self-empowered committees, "congresses", or "conventions" created new constitutions and a system in which the states dominated over the weaker Confederation government.This volume contains two new chapters: one demonstrating precedents in the state constitutions for the U.S. Constitution, and another chapter critically testing the "republicanism over liberalism" thesis against political ideas and institutional arrangements that constitute the first state constitutions. The bibliography has been updated to include the rich body of work written during the last two decades, much of it indebted to this pioneering study.

Adams, Willi Paul

Constitutional Law

Articulating America: Fashioning a National Political Culture in Early America

Starr, Rebecca

In the early republic, constitutional debates over federal-state relations were fundamental to party battles and divergent conceptions of republicanism. Then, as now, theories about the sources and nature of federal power informed public debate, policy, and judicial decisions. In examining the conflicts of the revolutionary era, Lenner's work provides a ground-breaking overview of the culture of constitutionalism--the clash of ideas about the nature and structure of Union--that pervaded the early republic.

The Federal Principle in American Politics, 1790-1833

Andrew C. Lenner

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