The original compromise
Subtitle: what the Constitution's framers were really thinking
By: David Brian Robertson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 344
ISBN-13: 9780199796298
Subjects: Politics and government; Constitutional history; Philosophy; United States; United States. Constitutional Convention (1787); Political science; History
Description: The eighty-five famous essays by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay--known collectively as the Federalist Papers--compose the lens through which we typically view the ideas the U.S. Constitution. But we are wrong to do so, writes David Robertson, if we really want to know what the Founders were thinking. In this provocative new account of the framing of the Constitution, Roberston observes that the Federalist Papers represented only one side in a fierce argument that was settled by compromise--in fact, multiple compromises. Drawing on numerous primary sources, Robertson unravels the highly political dynamics that shaped the document. Brilliantly argued and deeply researched, this book will change the way we think of "original intent." With a bracing willingness to challenge old pieties, Robertson rescues the political realities that created the government we know today. -- Provided by publsiher, inside flaps.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.