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This book does a great job of showing where we were in the U.S. I studied economics in college and have begun to follow one of the mainstream economists Peter Schiff. He recommended this book to his followers. Peter Schiff on the other hand shows where we are today and how things have changed for the worse since then. I recommend reading this book and following it up by reading Crash Proof 2.0, but don't read the two unless you want to see the truth, as I've learned the truth can be and is scary.
The Federalist Papers grants us the remarkable wisdom written for the very purpose of rebuidling a dysfunctional central government that could oversee the states. The amazing accomplishment of presenting a Constitution of the United States by September 20th to the Continental Congress as well as having the first state sign on (ratification) by December 6th was remarkable.
I love the details he includes about the framers Hamilton and Madison as they first presented their case in the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia. I would have closed this book, had I not encountered the introduction (81 pages) of Isaac Kramnick who restores a hard to imagine history when 13 bickering states on the verge of tyranny (including naval battles)consilidated their confederate powers to form a republican form of government.
This is included in Kramnick's notes. There, 81 year old Dr Benjamin Franklin observing the proceedings-- 6 hour speeches not unheard of--described General Washington framed by a painting of a sunrise (not a sunset he clearly distinguishes) while the Federaliststs and Anti-Federalsits debated the fate of their national government.
Despite the remarkable achievement that the gifted architects of the constituion(Hamilton and Madison) accomplished that summer, they had even more provisions for the form of our government and its function that were not to be. The other states quickly followed with only two of the thirteen voting against ratification.
It was that which formed our government -the ideas written here- and not the revolution itself.
It is well organized, has a great preface, and is loaded full of text to be engulfed in.Learning about the history of our legal system is not only essential for a legal student but should be important for every U.S. I have my nose glued to this book. citizen as well. I bought the book because I am a new legal studies student and was told that the Supreme Court uses the federalist papers to define the constitution. I thought, "what else could be better than to read the same papers that the supreme court uses." So, I had to buy this book and was really impressed. It explains some of the things that were going on around the constitutuional convention and why the laws are how they were written.The purchasing experience was, as always, terrific and I got the book in record time. This is a thick book and will take quite some time to finish reading but, with that said, the book should be continually used as a reference book.I recommend this one.
This book has the 85 articles, the Constitution, and 24 amendments, and an 'Index of Ideas'.'The Federalist' is the most important work in political science that has been written in the United States. A group of men convened in Philadelphia to consider Amendments. Others were added over time. The Federalist is a "bundle of compromises".
Promises, threats, bargains, and debates were more important than eloquent words (p.xi). It explains the value of a Federal government, the failure of the Articles of Confederation, the defense of a federal constitution, and the truths about a free government (p.xii). Alexander Hamilton began the series and was aided by James Madison and John Jay. This change was controversial, so advocates of the New began writing a series of articles to explain the changes. There were problems with this government.
Alexander Hamilton was the person behind these articles, the only man from New York to sign. John Jay was a distinguished New York lawyer who authored the NY Constitution of 1777 (a source for the Federal Constitution). The immediate purpose was to win over New York to insure the new Constitution (p.ix). Those who objected to the original quickly added a Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution. It has been quoted by the Supreme Court for judicial review, executive independence, and national supremacy ('Introduction').
These articles were published from October 1787 to May 1788. The end of the Revolution in 1781 left the United States operating under the Articles of Confederation, a union of equal states. James Madison was the "most useful member of the Convention of 1787" (p.x). All had distinguished careers.'The Federalist' was a source of arguments for the new Constitution.
[But that leaves no paper trail]. The value of these articles derived from the endurance of the Constitution and the country it created. The message is: "no happiness without liberty, no liberty without self-government, no self-government without constitutionalism, no constitutionalism without stability and order" (p.xvi).
The result was a new Constitution to address the problems of the old. Clinton Rossiter says the most important articles are numbers 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 23, 37, 39, 47, 48, 49, 51, 62, 63, 70,78, 84, and 85. It provides the "genuine meaning" of the Constitution.
They argue for the adoption of the new Federal Constitution. Given the diverse interests of society, there is a way to keep balance in government.Madison was a proponent of limited government while Hamilton admired an "energetic government". Articles 15 to 22 address the defects of the Articles of Confederation.
The book showed earlier than expected and was in the great shape it was supposed to be in.
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