Description
Book SynopsisDemonstrates that in the early English colonies in North America, constitutional thought and practice were more diverse than historians and political theorists have thought.
Trade Review“In
Hybrid Constitutions, Vicki Hsueh challenges the prevailing tendency in political theory to find in early-modern European colonialism the origins of modern liberalism’s exclusions and inclination toward uniformity. Through her detailed analyses of charters, constitutions, and treaties, she shows that colonial encounters—including encounters and negotiations among Europeans themselves, as well as between Europeans and Native Americans—were much more complex, contingent, and contested than broad-brush accounts would imply. This subtle and impressive book will be important for colonial historians and political theorists alike.” —
David Armitage, author of
The Declaration of Independence: A Global History“[S]ignificant and exciting. . .offer[s] compelling readings of important texts and thinkers, and suggest[s] whole new trajectories of research linking the American past and present to an evolving American future.” -- Andrew R. Murphy * Perspectives on Politics *
“
Hybrid Constitutions is very clearly written and provides a succinct and interesting overview of selected early constitutions and charters and historical writing about them that initiates an important debate. As an introduction to this literature and an intervention into colonial and sovereignty studies Hsueh's book is a helpful resource.” -- Jacqueline Stevens * Theory & Event *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii
1. Hybrid Constitutionalisms: Unsettling the Empire of Uniformity 1
2. "Not Repugnant or Contrary": Law, Discretion, and Colonial Founding 25
3. Giving Orders: Theory and Practice in the
Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina 55
4. Under Negotiation: Treaty Power and Hybrid Constitutionalism in Pennsylvania 83
5. Negotiating Culture: Plurality and Power in Hybrid Constitutionalism 113
Notes 135
Bibliography 163
Index
