Description
Book SynopsisWritten by one of early America's most eminent historians, this book masterfully discusses the debates over constitutionalism that took place in the Revolutionary era.
Trade ReviewThis book distills the core insights of a long career into a single small volume that grabs the reader's interest from the first page and never lets go. * Jessica T. Mathews, Foreign Affairs *
With characteristic insight, sobriety, and wisdom, Gordon Wood had given us much to consider in this thoughtful study of how the framers of the American Republic imperfectly but determinedly set us on a journey toward a more perfect Union. Wood's scholarship always repays our careful attention, and this incisive new book joins the large company of his invaluable contributions to understanding America's complexities and contradictions. * Jon Meacham, author of The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels *
No one has done more to teach us about the origins of American constitutionalism than Gordon S. Wood. Now, at a moment when we are trembling over the strength of our constitutional system, Wood gives us a deft shorthand account of how it all began. For anyone who wants to understand what made American constitutionalism such a vital political experiment, this is the place to start. * Jack Rakove, author of Beyond Belief, Beyond Conscience: The Radical Significance of the Free Exercise of Religion *
Gordon Wood's Power and Liberty conveniently encapsulates more than a half-century of scholarship by the leading historian of American constitutionalism during the founding era and the early republic. * William E. Nelson, author of E Pluribus Unum: How the Common Law Helped Unify and Liberate Colonial America, 1607-1776 *
Gordon Wood has packed a lifetime of learning into this splendid little volume. In his capable hands, our founding charters, grown stale from familiarity, regain their freshness and allure as revolutionary documents that redefined our politics. Wood has an uncanny ability to project himself into the past and to report on his findings as if he had been a personal witness to those distant events. * Ron Chernow, author of Alexander Hamilton *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Ch 1. The Imperial Debate Ch. 2 State Constitution-Making Ch. 3 The Crisis of the 1780s Ch. 4 The Federal Constitution Ch. 5 Slavery and Constitutionalism Ch. 6 The Emergence of the Judiciary Ch. 7 The Great Demarcation Between Public and Private Epilogue Notes Index
