A brilliant solution : inventing the American Constitution
We know and love the story of the American Revolution, from the Declaration of Independence to Cornwallis's defeat. We forget, though, that the Articles of Confederation and our first attempts at self-government were disasters; the post-revolutionary Confederation slipped quickly into factional bickering and economic crisis. In 1787, a group of lawyers and politicians, some famous and others just ordinary men, journeyed to Philadelphia, determined to create a more stable framework of government, hoping that it would last long enough to bring an end to the crisis. Revealing that the story of that amazing summer in Philadelphia is more complicated and much more interesting than we have imagined, Carol Berkin makes you feel as if you were there, listening to the arguments, getting to know the framers, and appreciating the difficult and critical decisions being made. Using history as a kind of time travel, Berkin takes the reader into the hearts and minds of the founders, explaining their mind-sets, their fears, and their very limited expectations. By telling a story that is more hallowed than understood, Berkin brings us into the world of eighteenth-century America and shows us the human side of a great accomplishment
eBook, English, 2003, ©2002
1st Harvest ed View all formats and editions
Harcourt, Orlando, 2003, ©2002
History
1 online resource (310 pages)
9780547537818, 9781299886896, 0547537816, 1299886892
748286290
Electronic reproduction, [Place of publication not identified], HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010