Introduction
Chapter 1: Flaws in the Articles of Confederation
Chapter 2: Economic Turmoil in the States and the Road to
Philadelphia
Chapter 3: The Constitutional Convention
Chapter 4: Slavery and the Constitutional Constitution
Chapter 5: Critics of the Constitution: The Antifederalists
Chapter 6: The Ratifying Contest
Chapter 7: The Bill of Rights
Chapter 8: Conclusion
Michael J. Klarman is Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and author of the Bancroft Prize-winning From Jim Crow to Civil Rights (OUP).
"Klarman...offers a pragmatic, even quotidian, explanation, taking
the reader through the most minute historical detail and presenting
quite literally everything anyone interested in the coming-to-be of
the US Constitution would possibly want: theory, philosophy,
history, theology, religion, politics, economics-and just plain
random chance. And he weaves it all together with a master
storyteller's ear for just the right phrase and just the right
dramatic line.
This reviewer is amazed by what the author has accomplished. This
is not the first thing he's written, and yet it feels like
something one would spend an entire academic career writing.
The
documentation is astonishing, and is alone worth the price of this
(extremely large!) volume. This reviewer had a grand time reading
this, and cannot wait to do it again. This is an amazing piece of
work....Essential"--M. Berheide, CHOICE
"The central strength of this book is its deep familiarity with
primary sources"--John R. Vile, The Register of the Kentucky
Historical Society
"A magisterial history of the creation of the United States
Constitution... In crisp, precise style, and without undue
reverence for the framers or their handiwork, Klarman explores in
great depth, with ample illustrative quotations, the varying
proposals and the heated arguments for and against them... A
monumental project carried off to a high degree of excellence...
Constitutional scholars will find this thorough and authoritative
work indispensable
reading."--Kirkus, Starred Review
"Michael Klarman has written the best single-volume analysis of the
flaws in the Articles of Confederation that led to the
Constitutional Convention, the debate in that Convention, the
ratification of the proposed Constitution, and the drafting and
adoption of the Bill of Rights. With great insight, Klarman
explains the complexities of America's postwar economic, political,
and constitutional struggles, showing how a people who fought a
long war for their
rights could then approve a democracy-limiting Constitution that
greatly restricted those rights. Klarman commands the documentary
sources like no other historian. His page-turning narrative is
equal to
the epic story he unveils. Every serious scholar of the period must
read this masterful work."--John Kaminski, Director, Center for the
Study of the American Constitution, University of
Wisconsin-Madison
"The Framers' Coup is the first comprehensive account of the entire
struggle for the United States Constitution, from the inception of
the amalgamating impulse in the early 1780s all the way through to
the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791. A lot of us who
write books about the Constitution are about to see our royalties
trail off, because Michael Klarman, in a brisk narrative, deftly
summarizes all the major interpretations in developing his
own provocative and persuasive take. I for one will take my lumps,
because this book is a beaut."--Woody Holton, Bancroft Prize winner
and author of Unruly Americans and the Origins of the
Constitution
"At last, we have a definitive account of the entire Framing
period. Klarman has brought to the task the narrative skill and
situation sense of a historian, the attention to detail and
language of a lawyer, and the wisdom and insight of the great
scholar that he is."--Louis Michael Seidman, Carmack Waterhouse
Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law
Center
"The fullest explanation of the origins of the Constitution that we
are ever likely to get in a single volume. Klarman ably shows how
an interest-ridden Constitutional Convention that was fearful of
democracy nevertheless created a document that transcended those
interests and became the basis for a democracy that has survived
for over two centuries."--Gordon S. Wood, Pulitzer Prize-winning
author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution
"This remarkable book tells a gripping story of how the
Constitution, often lauded as principled and visionary, was the
work of intensely political individuals who were preoccupied with
the issues of their day but were still able to accomplish something
the nation needed. If you are interested in the Constitution and
you do not read this book, you are making a big mistake."--David A.
Strauss, Gerald Ratner Distinguished Service Professor of Law,
University of
Chicago Law School
"In this thoroughly researched volume, Michael Klarman gives us a
book that has strangely gone unwritten: a comprehensive account of
the adoption of the Constitution, from the reform initiatives of
the 1780s through the ratification of the first amendments in 1791.
Anyone who wants to understand the origins and character of the
American constitutional project will need to wrestle with Klarman's
incisive and balanced judgments."--Jack Rakove, Pulitzer
Prize-winning author of Original Meanings
"Impressive... [Michael Klarman] digs deeper into the primary
sources than any of his predecessors.. no one has so carefully
sifted the constitutional debates of the entire decade of the
1780's and brought them into a single cohesive interpretation
focused on economics."--New Republic
"Magisterial... The Framers' Coup might well be the best book ever
written on the founders and their handiwork. With impressive, even
loving detail, and mostly emphasizing historical facts rather than
his own opinions, Klarman conjures up the framers' whole world...
riveting."--Cass Sunstein, The New Rambler
"This boldly themed and fast-paced book is both comprehensive and
corrective."--The Harvard Law Bulletin
"The book has the authority and elegance of a reference work
written for the ages... Rich with voices and insights... often
revelatory."--Harvard Magazine
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