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"With careful attention and rich research, this book examines in depth each of the ways that the Confederation failed."--David O. Stewart "Washington Independent Review of Books " "[Van Cleve] describes in great detail the varied and complicated issues faced by the impotent, insolvent Congress. . . .This detailed and well-researched history and analysis will appeal to scholars and serious popular history buffs."--Library Journal "We Have Not a Government provides a focused explanation of the reasons the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first federal constitution, went lurching toward collapse. . . .Van Cleve patiently examines the specific matters of public policy that vexed national politics in the mid-1780s. He draws sharp conclusions and generally takes decided stands on matters that historians still actively dispute. . . .What Van Cleve does demonstrate, persuasively, is that the genuine crisis of the Confederation required creating a "staggeringly powerful" national government through a "grand bargain" that went well beyond what any state might have asked for itself."--Jack Rakove, Pulitzer Prize winner "Washington Post "

We Have Not a Government

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    A Paperback / softback by George William Van Cleve

    £23.21

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      Book details

      Publisher The University of Chicago Press
      Published 5 April 2019
      ISBN-13 9780226641522
      978-0226641522
      ISBN-10 022664152X
      Also in:
      Constitution: government and the state Political science and theory

      Description

      Book Synopsis


      Trade Review
      "With careful attention and rich research, this book examines in depth each of the ways that the Confederation failed."--David O. Stewart "Washington Independent Review of Books " "[Van Cleve] describes in great detail the varied and complicated issues faced by the impotent, insolvent Congress. . . .This detailed and well-researched history and analysis will appeal to scholars and serious popular history buffs."--Library Journal "We Have Not a Government provides a focused explanation of the reasons the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first federal constitution, went lurching toward collapse. . . .Van Cleve patiently examines the specific matters of public policy that vexed national politics in the mid-1780s. He draws sharp conclusions and generally takes decided stands on matters that historians still actively dispute. . . .What Van Cleve does demonstrate, persuasively, is that the genuine crisis of the Confederation required creating a "staggeringly powerful" national government through a "grand bargain" that went well beyond what any state might have asked for itself."--Jack Rakove, Pulitzer Prize winner "Washington Post "

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