Bibliography of the United States Constitution explained

The bibliography of the United States Constitution is a comprehensive selection of books, journal articles and various primary sources about and primarily related to the Constitution of the United States that have been published since its ratification in 1788. Many of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention set out to improve on the inadequate Articles of Confederation,[1] but after much deliberation over state's rights a new Federal Constitution was approved.[2] To allow delegates to make compromises and changes without speculation from the public and newspapers it was decided that the debates and drafting during the Convention be conducted in secret,[3] [4] which is why definitive accounts of the Convention did not appear until 1840,[5] [6] [7] while many books on the Constitution begin after the Convention of 1787.[8] On September 17, 1787, the new Constitution was signed by the delegates, and ratified the following year, which established the government of the United States in March 1789.[9] [10] Since then, many historians and political scientists, some of them critical and controversial, have written about the Constitution, and the Founding Fathers who framed it.

Preliminary notes

18th century publications

19th century publications

Journals 1

20th century publications

Journals 2

21st century publications

Journals 3

Primary sources

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Works influential to the Founders

Many of the works in this section were authored by members of the Scottish Enlightenment and the English Enlightenment, who were highly influential in the realms of moral and political philosophy and political science. Their works were routinely cited by James Madison, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and other Founding Fathers before and during the drafting of the U. S. Constitution, and during the ratification process.[11] [12] [13] In the years leading up to the framing and signing of the Constitution, Blackstone, Hume, Locke and Montesquieu were among the political philosophers most frequently referred to.[13] Historian Jack P. Greene maintains that by 1776 the early Americans drew heavily upon Magna Carta and the later writings of "Enlightenment rationalism" and English common law, while also citing David Hume, an eighteen century Scottish philosopher, who advanced the idea that the lower class was a better judge of character when it came to choosing their representatives.[14] The framers also studied the political philosophies of Plato, Socrates and Aristotle of ancient Greece and those found in ancient Roman Law who advanced the idea of balance of powers.[15] [16]

James Madison

James Madison is widely recognized among Constitutional scholars for his key role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.[23] [24] [25] Gouverneur Morris also played a significant role, writing the Preamble and various other provisions.[26] Historians Saul Padover and Jacob Landynski maintain that "...the American Constitution, for which Madison, more than any other single individual, was mainly responsible. It was Madison who gave the Constitution its basic shape, its essential conservatism, and yet flexibility sufficient to meet the changing needs of future times."[27] For his key role Madison is commonly known as The Father of the Constitution.[28] However, some historians don't share this view entirely, based on various issues.[29] [30] In his own lifetime Madison was hailed as the "Father of the Constitution".[23]

Journals 4

Madison correspondence

During the period just prior to and during the Constitutional Convention James Madison corresponded with Thomas Jefferson, who was in Paris serving as American Minister to France,[31] [32] and who.had requested that Madison keep him informed of the proceedings during the Constitutional Convention.[33] During this time Madison also corresponded with John Adams, in London,[34] George Washington,[35] James Monroe,[36] and others, about general developments during the convention and other related matters. Because Madison, like others at the convention, was bound by the secrecy rule, which Jefferson found disquieting, only reports about the arrival of delegates, the general progress of the convention, general recommendations and other such nominal information was exchanged through correspondence.[37] [36] Correspondence of this nature is included in this section.

Slavery and the Constitution

See main article: Bibliography of slavery in the United States.

See main article: Slavery and the United States Constitution.

According to James Madison, the source of greatest disagreement between the states in framing the U.S. Constitution was the issue of slavery.[38] [39] [40] The differences profoundly affected the final document, which included five provisions that protected slavery directly and another five, indirectly.[41] So deep was the division that it threatened the Constitution's passage, in fact, the union itself, and over the next 70 years, slavery would grow into the nation's defining issue, eventually resulting in a bloody civil war.[42] [43] [44] [45]

As various states refused to ratify a Constitution that prohibited slavery, various provisions were adapted to assure ratification by all the states.[46] [47] Though Congress was allowed to prohibit the foreign slave trade, beginning in 1808, the issue of slavery did not become a Constitutional mandate over the states, with each state deciding whether it would allow the institution of slavery to exist within its borders. Emancipation gradually continued in the northern and middle states, however, slavery would thrive and expand in the southern states.[48] As a result, the number of slaves in the U.S. would increase from about 700,000 in 1790 to nearly four million at the outbreak of the Civil War.[49]

Journals 5

See also

Citations

Sources :

External links

Notes and References

  1. [#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]
  2. [#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]
  3. [#lutz1988|Lutz, 1988]
  4. [#kaminski2005|Kaminski, 2005]
  5. [#slez2007|Slez & Martin, 2007]
  6. [#bloom1986|Bloom, 1986]
  7. [#farrand1904|Farrand, 1904]
  8. [#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]
  9. [#yates1821|Lansing & Yates, 1821]
  10. [#maier2010|Maier, 2010]
  11. [#tanaka2010|Tanaka, 2010]
  12. [#wood1979|Wood, 1979]
  13. [#lutz1988|Lutz, 1988]
  14. [#greene1994|Greene, 1994]
  15. [#pauley2014|Pauley, 2014]
  16. [#paolucci2004|Paulucci, 2004]
  17. [#grinde1996|Grinde & Johansen, 1996]
  18. [#ablavsky2014|Ablavsky, 2014]
  19. [#armstrong1971|Armstrong, 1971]
  20. [#levy1996|Levy, 1996]
  21. [#tooker1988|Tooker, 1988]
  22. [#starna1996|Starna, 1996]
  23. [#feldman2017|Feldman, 2017]
  24. [#rakove1990|Rakove, 1990]
  25. [#brant1950|Brant, 1950]
  26. [#wright1987|Wright, 1987]
  27. [#padover1995|Padover & Landynski, 1995]
  28. [#bowen1986|Bowen, 1986]
  29. [#wood2006|Wood, 2006]
  30. [#gutzman2012|Gutzman, 2012]
  31. [#mccullough2001|McCullough, 2001]
  32. [#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]
  33. [#koch1964|Koch, 1964]
  34. [#mccullough2001|McCullough, 2001]
  35. [#madison1787b|Madison to Washington, September 30, 1787]
  36. [#madison1787b|Madison to Monroe, June 10, 1787]
  37. [#koch1964|Koch, 1964]
  38. [#rakove1996|Rakove, 1996]
  39. [#wiecek1977|Wiecek, 1977]
  40. [#kaminski1995|Kaminski, 1995]
  41. [#finkelman1996|Finkelman, 1996]
  42. [#ellis2015|Ellis, 2015]
  43. [#bernstein1987|Bernstein, 1987]
  44. [#rakove1996|Rakove, 1996]
  45. [#amar2005|Amar, 2005]
  46. [#kaminski1995|Kaminski, 1995]
  47. [#klarman2016|Klaman, 2016]
  48. [#kaminski1995|Kaminski, 1995]
  49. [#hacker2020|Hacker, 2020]

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