Authors: Jack N. Rakove
ISBN-13: 9780312137342, ISBN-10: 0312137346
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's
Date Published: October 1997
Edition: 1st Edition
Jack N. Rakove is Coe Professor of History and American Studies and professor (by courtesy) of political science at Stanford University. His scholarly work concentrates on the creation of a national policy in Revolutionary America, the problem of ascertaining the "original meaning" on the Constitution, and the political career and thinking of James Madison. His most recent book, Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution (1996), won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in history. Rakove's other works include James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic (1990), Interpreting the Constitution: The Debate over Original Intent (1990), and The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretative History of the Continental Congress (1979). He contributes to numerous scholarly and legal journals and lectures both in the United States and abroad.
Questions about the original meaning of the Bill of Rights remain a source of active concern and controversy in the twenty-first century. In order to help students consider the intentions of the first Constitutional amendments and the significance of declaring rights, Jack Rakove traces the tradition and describes the deliberations from which the Bill of Rights emerged.
Foreword | ||
Preface | ||
Introduction: Rights across the Centuries | 1 | |
Pt. 1 | Rights in Revolution | 5 |
1 | The Seventeenth-Century Background | 7 |
2 | Puzzles about Rights | 17 |
3 | The Colonists' Appeal to Rights | 32 |
4 | The Legacy of 1689 | 39 |
1 | Declaration of Rights, February 12, 1688 o.s | 41 |
5 | Rights in Resistance | 46 |
2 | Resolutions of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, October 29, 1765 | 48 |
3 | A Letter from a Gentleman at Halifax (1765) | 51 |
4 | The Earl of Clarendon to William Pym, January 27, 1766 | 55 |
5 | Declaration and Resolves, October 14, 1774 | 63 |
6 | Rights in the First Constitutions | 69 |
6 | Four Letters on Interesting Subjects, 1776 | 71 |
7 | Resolutions of Concord, Massachusetts, October 21, 1776 | 74 |
8 | Third Draft of a Constitution for Virginia, Part IV, June 1776 | 79 |
9 | Committee Draft of a Declaration of Rights, May 27, 1776 | 81 |
10 | Declaration of Rights, 1776 | 85 |
11 | A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1780 | 88 |
12 | Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, 1779 | 95 |
Pt. 2 | The Constitution and Rights | 97 |
7 | Madison and the Problem of Rights | 99 |
8 | Framing the Constitution | 108 |
9 | The Basic Positions Stated | 115 |
13 | Amendments Proposed to Congress, September 27, 1787 | 117 |
14 | Statehouse Speech, October 6, 1787 | 121 |
10 | The Anti-Federalist Case | 124 |
15 | Second Essay Opposing the Constitution, November 1, 1787 | 126 |
16 | Letter XVI, January 20, 1788 | 133 |
11 | The Federalist Position | 143 |
17 | Speech in the North Carolina Ratification Convention, July 28, 1788 | 145 |
12 | Madison and Jefferson: The Classic Exchange | 147 |
18 | Letter to Thomas Jefferson, October 24, 1787 | 150 |
19 | Letter to James Madison, December 20, 1787 | 154 |
20 | Letter to James Madison, July 31, 1788 | 157 |
21 | Letter to Thomas Jefferson, October 17, 1788 | 160 |
22 | Letter to James Madison, March 15, 1789 | 165 |
13 | Framing the Bill of Rights | 167 |
23 | Speech to the House of Representatives, June 8, 1789 | 170 |
24 | Constitutional Amendments Proposed to the Senate, August 24, 1789 | 183 |
25 | Constitutional Amendments Proposed to the States, September 28, 1789 | 189 |
Epilogue: After Two Centuries | 194 | |
A Constitutional Chronology (1603-1791) | 199 | |
Questions for Consideration | 203 | |
Selected Bibliography | 204 | |
Index | 210 |