Bernard Bailyn,Benjamin Franklin,Alexander Hamilton,David Redick,John Adams,Samuel Adams,Fisher Ames,Isaac Backus,Joseph Barrell,Nathaniel Barrell,George Bryan,Samuel Bryan,Tench Coxe,Thomas Dawes Jr.,Oliver Ellsworth,William Findley,Elbridge Gerry,Christopher Gore,John Hancock,William Heath,Abraham Holmes,Francis Hopkinson,Samuel Huntington,James Iredell,Charles Jarvis,Thomas Jefferson,William Jones,Martin Kinsley,Arthur Lee,Richard Henry Lee,James Madison,Martin Luther,George Mason,Eleonore FranÃ§ois Elie,Samuel Nasson,Samuel Osgood,Louis-Guillaume Otto,Samuel Holden Parsons,Timothy Pickering,Edmund Randolph,Benjamin Rush,Roger Sherman,Daniel Shute,Amos Singletary,John Smilie,Jonathan Smith,Isaac Snow,John Stevens Jr.,Ezra Stiles,Increase Sumner,Lawrence Taliaferro,Samuel Thomspon,George Lee Turberville,Charles Turner,Joseph Bradley Varnum,James Wadsworth,Thomas Baker Wait,George Washington,Noah Webster,Pelatiah Webster,Samuel West,Robert Whitehill,William Widgery,James        Wilson,James Winthrop,Benjamin Workman
In this ,Library of America, volume (and its companion) is captured, on a scale unmatched by any previous collection, the extraordinary energy and eloquence of our first national political campaign.,When the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia ended its secret proceedings on September 17, 1787, few Americans were prepared for the document that emerged. Instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, the framers had created a fundamentally new national plan that placed over the states a supreme government with broad powers. They proposed to submit it to conventions in each state, elected â€œby the People thereof,â€ for ratification.,Immediately, a fierce storm of argument broke. Federalist supporters, Antifederalist opponents, and seekers of a middle ground strove to balance public order and personal liberty as they praised, condemned, challenged, and analyzed the new Constitution.,Assembled here in chronological order are hundreds of newspaper articles, pamphlets, speeches, and private letters written or delivered in the aftermath of the Constitutional Convention. Along with familiar figures like Franklin, Madison, Patrick Henry, Jefferson, and Washington, scores of less famous citizens are represented, all speaking clearly and passionately about government. The most famous writings of the ratification struggleâ€”the Federalist essays of Hamilton and Madisonâ€”are placed in their original context, alongside the arguments of able antagonists, such as â€œBrutusâ€ and the â€œFederal Farmer.â€,Part One includes press polemics and private commentaries from September 1787 to January 1788. That autumn, powerful arguments were made against the new charter by Virginian George Mason and the still-unidentified â€œFederal Farmer,â€ while in New York newspapers, the ,Federalist, essays initiated a brilliant defense. Dozens of speeches from the state ratifying conventions show how the â€œdraft of a plan, nothing but a dead letter,â€ in Madisonâ€™s words, had â€œlife and validityâ€¦breathed into it by the voice of the people.â€ Included are the conventions in Pennsylvania, where James Wilson confronted the democratic skepticism of those representing the western frontier, and in Massachusetts, where John Hancock and Samuel Adams forged a crucial compromise that saved the country from years of political convulsion.,Informative notes, biographical profiles of all writers, speakers, and recipients, and a detailed chronology of relevant events from 1774 to 1804 provide fascinating background. A general index allows readers to follow specific topics, and an appendix includes the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution (with all amendments).
History,Politics,North American Hi...,American History,Nonfiction,Law,Philosophy,Military History,American Revolution,Writing,Essays,Reference,Literature,American
The Debate on the Constitution, Part 1: Federalist and Anti-Federalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle over Ratification: September 1787 to February 1788