To look at the creation of the Constitution and its beginning in the New Nation in Virginia, we begin with two surveys explaining the Articles of Confederation and the new Constitution, one developing political and intellectual history in “Creation of the American Republic”, the other emphasizing economic and social history in “The Forging of the Union”. The ratification process itself among the thirteen states is considered in “Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution”. “Original Meanings” explains the language of the Constitution in terms of the political framework of the times.
The last two books reviewed expand on the story of the Constitution and its ratification with the beginnings of the Constitutional government launching the New Nation period. The first “Founding Friendship” illuminates the coordination between George Washington and James Madison, and the second “James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights” narrates the delivered promise of amendments made during the state ratification conventions.
For book reviews of this historical period in other topics, see Revolution-Constitution-New Nation. General surveys of Virginia History can be found at Virginia History Surveys. Virginia history divided by time periods can be found at the webpage Books and Reviews.
Creation of the American Republic
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 was written by Gordon S. Wood in 1969, reprinted in 1998. Wood begins with his intellectual history describing how the American conception of politics removed from a classical and medieval world of discussion into a recognizably modern democratic centered one within republican frames.
Wood spends the first sixty percent of his book laying the groundwork, accounting for the early American state and federal constitutions, how they were created and the development of their political ideology. It was both dynamic in each moment of evolution and cumulative in character, one of the “great utopian moments” of self-sacrifice in American history.
In the last half, Wood shows the emergence of the new Constitution, justified by a new political theory developed during the ratification debates. While the Constitution was intrinsically an aristocratic document designed to check the democratic excesses of the states, the new national government cut through the state governments to allow itself to rest on a more democratic foundation with wider popular participation than some of the state governments. Learn more to buy “Creation of the American Republic” for your bookshelf at Amazon.com.
Forging of the Union
The Forging of the Union, 1781-1789 was written by Richard B. Morris in 1987. He emphasizes the transitional nature of the period, noting changes in Congress before and after the Articles, constitutional changes in the states, social reform, economic depression, and the political reform that became the Constitution with Amendments.
While the Articles were created by the states, the Constitution was created by the national people “collectively”, though established in a society far from egalitarian, it was supported by many of the “forgotten people” such as the urban working classes and disenfranchised frontiersmen.
The Constitution was not an abandonment of the principles of 1776, but a return to them with an emphasis on nationalism over states to broaden participatory democracy. Learn more to buy “Forging of the Union” here for your bookshelf.
Ratification: The People Debate
Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788 was written by Pauline Maier in 2011. She recreates the debates over the Constitution not only in Convention but out-of-doors before and during conventions by pamphleteers, delegates to state conventions and letters to newspaper editors.
Even with New Hampshire as the ninth state ratifying, unresolved Virginia and New York both cut the prospective United States in two. After the Virginia showdown between James Madison and Patrick Henry, the anti-ratification New York convention changed course to join the new United States.
Americans were not merely Federalists and Anti-Federalists, they were divided among those who wanted amendments before ratification, those who wanted amendments after ratification, and those who wanted ratification with no amendments. Learn more to buy “Ratification: The People Debate” here for your bookshelf.
Original Meanings
Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution was written by Jack N. Rakove in 1997. It distinguishes between the fifty-five authors of the Constitution as proposed without amendments, the two thousand ratifiers in state conventions, and the tens of thousands casting ballots to select the convention delegates. Anti-federalists forced Federalists to clarify and make new arguments for adoption that were unanticipated by the drafters.
Following an essay on originalist studies, Rakove uses five chapters to describe the background, making and ratification of the Constitution. The final chapters study representation, federalism, the presidency, fundamental rights, and the “origins of originalism”. Learn more to buy “Original Meanings” here for your bookshelf.
Founding Friendship
Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic was written by Stuart Leibiger in 2001. The relationship Leibiger describes pivots on political twists and turns over fifty years of coincidental interests such as canal building until the period 1784-1792. The friendship moves into greater intimacy as seen in their correspondence, then later to wane as Madison supports “self created” democratic-republican societies and breaks with Madison’s opposition to the Jay Treaty.
Madison’s greatest contribution in the relationship was in persuading Washington to throw his influence into the Constitutional Convention, then serving as its first president for two terms. Washington’s notable contribution was elevating Madison as his House floor leader, importantly for the passage of the Bill of Rights.
Both men were concerned with promoting a strong, efficient and republican central government, and neither were very far apart as Madison was never among the most hostile anti-government Republicans and Washington was never aligned with the most extreme nationalist Federalists. Learn more to buy “Founding Friendship” here for your bookshelf.
Struggle for the Bill of Rights
James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights was written by Richard Labunski in 2006. Labunski argues that Madison both believed that a bill of rights protecting individuals from the federal government was an improvement and he recognized the political expedience of narrowly defining the protections from the federal governments. He failed to gain legislation to protect individual rights from state government infringement; that would have to wait until the 20th century.
The book traces dramatic events of the period including the close of the Federal Convention and the Constitution’s transmittal to the states, Madison’s election to Virginia’s ratification convention and his debates with Patrick Henry, Madison’s hard fought election to Congress in a gerrymandered district, and the legislative history of amendments producing the Bill of Rights. Learn more to buy “James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights” here for your bookshelf.
For book reviews of this historical period in other topics, see Revolution-Constitution-New Nation. General surveys of Virginia History can be found at Virginia History Surveys. Virginia history divided by time periods can be found at the webpage Books and Reviews.