In eleven provocative essays Forrest Mc Donald and his wife, Ellen Shapiro Mc Donald, cover a wide range of the intellectual, political, military, and social history of the eighteenth century to present both a picture of the age in which our Constitution was crafted and commentary on developments that have caused American government to stray from the Founders’ principles.
Appearing here in print for the first time is Forrest Mc Donald’s widely acclaimed 1987 NEH Jefferson lecture, “The Intellectual World of the Founding Fathers.” In other essays the Mc Donalds examine such topics as the writing of the Constitution, the central role of such little-known Founders as John Dickinson (“the most underrated of all the Founders”), and the constitutional principles of Alexander Hamilton. Also presented is an exploration of the ritualistic aspects of eighteenth-century warfare and an analysis of Shays’ Rebellion as a tax revolt. In chapters focusing on the separation of powers, the political economy, and the death of federalism, the Mc Donalds argue the urgent need to “return to limited government under law.”
Open access edition funded by the National Endowment for Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program.
Table des matières
Preface
1. The Intellectual World of the Founding Fathers
2. A New Order for the Ages: The Making of the United States Constitution
3. Eighteenth-Century Warfare as a Cultural Ritual
4. On the Late Disturbances in Massachusetts
5. John Dickinson and the Constitution
6. Ne Philosophis Audiamus: The Middle Delegates in the Constitutional Convention
7. The Constitutional Principles of Alexander Hamilton
8. The Constitution and the Separation of Powers
9. The Presidencies of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
10. Capitalism and the Constitution
11. Federalism in America: An Obituary
Index
A propos de l’auteur
Forrest Mc Donald (1927–2016) was professor of history at the University of Alabama for more than twenty-five years. He is the author or coauthor of fourteen books, including Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution, which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in history.Joining him formally as coauthor is his wife and longtime intellectual partner, Ellen Shapiro Mc Donald. Though she worked with her husband on all of his publications, she chose to only be formally credited as coauthor on this project and as coeditor of Confederation and Constitution, 1781–1789.
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