America's Founding Documents
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Soon after the start of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, the Thirteen Colonies proclaimed their independence from British rule and became the United States of America. The written word proved vital in shaping America's new identity, laying the groundwork for societal principles and political doctrine alike. From Thomas Jefferson and the members of the Second Continental Congress, to Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, the authors of these documents had a profound and lasting effect on United States history. This collection includes unabridged versions of five famous and influential documents that helped to found a nation: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Articles of Confederation (1777), the United States Constitution (1787), the Federalist Papers (1787-1788), and the Bill of Rights (1791).
A sampling of the resources the Masland Library has that relate to the Declaration of Independence.
For Liberty and Equality
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The Declaration of Independence is one of the most influential documents in modern history-the inspiration for what would become the most powerful democracy in the world. Indeed, at every stage of American history, the Declaration has been a touchstone for evaluating the legitimacy of legal, social, and political practices. Not only have civil rights activists drawn inspiration from its proclamation of inalienable rights, but individuals decrying a wide variety of governmental abuses have turned for support to the document's enumeration of British tyranny.
In this sweeping synthesis of the Declaration's impact on American life, ranging from 1776 to the present, Alexander Tsesis offers a deeply researched narrative that highlights the many surprising ways in which this document has influenced American politics, law, and society. The drafting of the Bill of Rights, the Reconstruction Amendments, the New Deal, the Civil Rights movement-all are heavily indebted to the Declaration's principles of representative government. Tsesis demonstrates that from the founding on, the Declaration has played a central role in American political and social advocacy, congressional debates, and presidential decisions. He focuses on how successive generations internalized, adapted, and interpreted its meaning, but he also shines a light on the many American failures to live up to the ideals enshrined in the document.
Based on extensive research from primary sources such as newspapers, diaries, letters, transcripts of speeches, and congressional records, For Liberty and Equality shows how our founding document shaped America through successive eras and why its influence has always been crucial to the nation and our way of life.
Jefferson's Declaration of Independence
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Allen Jayne analyzes the ideology of the Declaration of Independence -- and its implications -- by going back to the sources of Jefferson's ideas: Bolingbroke, Kames, Reid, and Locke. He concludes that the Declaration must be read as an attack on two claims of absolute authority: that of government over its subjects and of religion over the minds of men. Today's world is more secular than Jefferson's, and the importance of philosophical theology in eighteenth-century critical thought must be recognized in order to understand fully and completely the Declaration's implications. Jayne addresses this need by putting religion back into the discussion.
A sampling of the resources the Masland Library has that relate to the Articles of Confederation.
We Have Not a Government: The Articles of Confederation to the Constitution
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In 1783, as the Revolutionary War came to a close, Alexander Hamilton resigned in disgust from the Continental Congress after it refused to consider a fundamental reform of the Articles of Confederation. Just four years later, that same government collapsed, and Congress grudgingly agreed to support the 1787 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, which altered the Articles beyond recognition. What occurred during this remarkably brief interval to cause the Confederation to lose public confidence and inspire Americans to replace it with a dramatically more flexible and powerful government? We Have Not a Government is the story of this contentious moment in American history.
A sampling of the resources the Masland Library has that relate to the United States Constitution.
The Cambridge Companion to the United States Constitution
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This Companion provides a broad, historically informed introduction to the study of the US constitutional system. In place of the usual laundry lists of cases, doctrines, and theories, it presents a picture of the constitutional system in action, with separate sections devoted to constitutional principles, organizational structures, and the various legal and extra-legal 'actions' through which litigators and average citizens have attempted to bring about constitutional change. Finally, the volume covers a number of subjects that are rarely discussed in works aimed at a general audience, but which are critical to ensuring that constitutional rights are honored in the day-to-day lives of citizens. These include standing and causes of action, suits against officeholders, and the inner workings of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). This Companion places present-day constitutional controversies in historical context, and offers insights from a range of disciplines, including history, political science, and law.
The Constitution
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"In The Constitution, constitutional scholar Michael Stokes Paulsen and his son Luke provide a clear, accessible introduction to the history and meaning of this historic document. Beginning with the Constitution's birth in 1787, Paulsen and Paulsen offer a grand tour of its history and interpretations, introducing readers to the characters and controversies that have shaped this founding instrument in the 200-plus years since its creation. In order to properly judge contemporary readings of the Constitution, Paulsen and Paulsen argue, it is first necessary to understand the origins--and original meaning--of the document's articles and amendments. The Constitution itself has evolved into a more perfect document since its inception, they show, through the addition of amendments abolishing slavery, establishing civil rights, and broadening the right to vote. Yet the officials charged with interpreting the Constitution have often stretched its meaning far beyond its intended boundaries, substituting their own judgments for those of the Constitution's framers and reformers. In order to stay true to this essential American document, the authors argue, it is imperative that we, the people, know the meaning and history of each of the Constitution's components and allow ourselves to be guided by the intentions of its authors--not the opinions and whims of the judges charged with interpreting it. A lucid history of and guide to this foundational American document, The Constitution provides readers with the tools to think critically and independently about constitutional issues--a skill that is ever more essential to the continued flourishing of American democracy"-- Provided by publisher.
The Revolutionary Constitution
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"The framers of the Constitution chose their words carefully when they wrote of a more perfect union--not absolutely perfect, but with room for improvement. Indeed, we no longer operate under the same Constitution as that ratified in 1788, or even the one completed by the Bill of Rights in 1791--because we are no longer the same nation. In The Revolutionary Constitution, David J. Bodenhamer provides a comprehensive new look at America's basic law, integrating the latest legal scholarship with historical context to highlight how it has evolved over time. The Constitution, he notes, was the product of the first modern revolution, and revolutions are, by definition, moments when the past shifts toward an unfamiliar future, one radically different from what was foreseen only a brief time earlier. In seeking to balance power and liberty, the framers established a structure that would allow future generations to continually readjust the scale. Bodenhamer explores this dynamic through seven major constitutional themes: federalism, balance of powers, property, representation, equality, rights, and security. With each, he takes a historical approach, following their changes over time. For example, the framers wrote multiple protections for property rights into the Constitution in response to actions by state governments after the Revolution. But twentieth-century courts--and Congress--redefined property rights through measures such as zoning and the designation of historical landmarks (diminishing their commercial value) in response to the needs of a modern economy. The framers anticipated just such a future reworking of their own compromises between liberty and power. With up-to-the-minute legal expertise and a broad grasp of the social and political context, this book is a tour de force of Constitutional history and analysis"-- Provided by publisher.
A sampling of the resources the Masland Library has that relate to the Federalist Papers..
Charting an American Republic
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The Essential Federalist
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Jefferson called The Federalist 'the best commentary on the principles of government which was ever written,' and yet the text is considered lifeless and impenetrable by all but the most persistent readers. The Essential Federalist presents a bold new approach to reading one of the most important documents in American history. By careful selection, organization, and annotation of the essays' most meaningful passages, this book showcases what is central to The Federalist. 'If the road over which you will still have to pass,' in reading these papers, wrote Publius, 'should in some places appear to you tedious or irksome, you will recollect that you are in quest of information on a subject the most momentous which can engage the attention of free people. . . . It will be my aim to remove the obstacles to your progress in as compendious a manner as it can be done, without sacrificing utility to dispatch.' Dr. Quentin P. Taylor takes up Publius' challenge by making The Federalist an understandable and usable resource. This book will be essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand the roots of American government.
A sampling of the resources the Masland Library has that relate to the United States Bill or Rights.
Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction
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Are the deep insights of Hugo Black, William Brennan, and Felix Frankfurter that have defined our cherished Bill of Rights fatally flawed? With meticulous historical scholarship and elegant legal interpretation a leading scholar of Constitutional law boldly answers yes as he explodes conventional wisdom about the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution in this incisive new account of our most basic charter of liberty. Akhil Reed Amar brilliantly illuminates in rich detail not simply the text, structure, and history of individual clauses of the 1789 Bill, but their intended relationships to each other and to other constitutional provisions. Amar's corrective does not end there, however, for as his powerful narrative proves, a later generation of antislavery activists profoundly changed the meaning of the Bill in the Reconstruction era. With the Fourteenth Amendment, Americans underwent a new birth of freedom that transformed the old Bill of Rights. We have as a result a complex historical document originally designed to protect the people against self-interested government and revised by the Fourteenth Amendment to guard minority against majority. In our continuing battles over freedom of religion and expression, arms bearing, privacy, states'rights, and popular sovereignty, Amar concludes, we must hearken to both the Founding Fathers who created the Bill and their sons and daughters who reconstructed it.Amar's landmark work invites citizens to a deeper understanding of their Bill of Rights and will set the basic terms of debate about it for modern lawyers, jurists, and historians for years to come.
The Heart of the Constitution
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"This is the untold story of the most celebrated part of the Constitution. Until the twentieth century, few Americans called the first ten constitutional amendments drafted by James Madison in 1789 and ratified by the states in 1791 the Bill of Rights. Even more surprising, when people finally started doing so between the Spanish-American War and World War II, the Bill of Rights was usually invoked to justify increasing rather than restricting the authority of the federal government. President Franklin D. Roosevelt played a key role in that development, first by using the Bill of Rights to justify the expansion of national regulation under the New Deal, and then by transforming the Bill of Rights into a patriotic rallying cry against Nazi Germany. It was only after the Cold War began that the Bill of Rights took on its modern form as the most powerful symbol of the limits on government power. These are just some of the revelations about the Bill of Rights in Gerard Magliocca's The Heart of the Constitution. For example, we are accustomed to seeing the Bill of Rights at the end of the Constitution, but Madison wanted to put them in the middle of the document. Why was his plan rejected and what impact did that have on constitutional law? Today we also venerate the first ten amendments as the Bill of Rights, but many Supreme Court opinions say that only the first eight or first nine amendments. Why was that and why did that change? The Bill of Rights that emerges from Magliocca's fresh historical examination is a living text that means something different for each generation and reflects the great ideas of the Constitution--individual freedom, democracy, states' rights, judicial review, and national power in time of crisis."-- Provided by publisher.
Limited Government and the Bill of Rights
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What was the intended purpose and function of the Bill of Rights? Is the modern understanding of the Bill of Rights the same as that which prevailed when the document was ratified? In Limited Government and the Bill of Rights, Patrick Garry addresses these questions. Under the popular modern view, the Bill of Rights focuses primarily on protecting individual autonomy interests, making it all about the individual. But in Garry's novel approach, one that tries to address the criticisms of judicial activism that have resulted from the Supreme Court's contemporary individual rights jurisprudence, the Bill of Rights is all about government--about limiting the power of government. In this respect, the Bill of Rights is consistent with the overall scheme of the original Constitution, insofar as it sought to define and limit the power of the newly created federal government. Garry recognizes the desire of the constitutional framers to protect individual liberties and natural rights, indeed, a recognition of such rights had formed the basis of the American campaign for independence from Britain. However, because the constitutional framers did not have a clear idea of how to define natural rights, much less incorporate them into a written constitution for enforcement, they framed the Bill of Rights as limited government provisions rather than as individual autonomy provisions. To the framers, limited government was the constitutional path to the maintenance of liberty. Moreover, crafting the Bill of Rights as limited government provisions would not give the judiciary the kind of wide-ranging power needed to define and enforce individual autonomy. With respect to the application of this limited government model, Garry focuses specifically on the First Amendment and examines how the courts in many respects have already used a limited government model in their First Amendment decision-making. As he discusses, this approach to the First Amendment may allow for a more objective and restrained judicial role than is often applied under contemporary First Amendment jurisprudence. Limited Government and the Bill of Rights will appeal to anyone interested in the historical background of the Bill of Rights and how its provisions should be applied to contemporary cases, particularly First Amendment cases. It presents an innovative theory about the constitutional connection between the principle of limited government and the provisions in the Bill of Rights.
Liberty and Coercion
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From the Revolution to the Tea Party, and the Bill of Rights to the national security state, Liberty and Coercion is a revelatory account of the making and unmaking of government in America.
The People's Government
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"The People's Government is premised on the idea that democracy is based on two fundamental rights: freedom and liberty. Many believe these rights are synonymous, but they are actually complementary opposites. Liberty is the right to be left alone, while freedom is the right to participate in a political community. How people view democracy depends on which of these two rights they think is more important. Liberal democrats place a higher value on liberty, while free democrats see freedom as the primary right. From this starting point, the author adds five dimensions to define and distinguish democratic societies: rights, participation and representation, inclusion, equality, and power. Liberal democracies emphasize individualism, negative rights, representative government, inclusive citizenship, equal opportunity, and limited government. Free democracies stress community, positive rights, direct participation, exclusive citizenship, equal outcomes, and robust government. The book examines the most important arguments for and against democracy, and explores the life cycle of democracies - how countries democratize, mature, and fail. Finally, the author uses the five dimensions established earlier to evaluate and grade American democracy"-- Provided by publisher.
The Struggle to Limit Government
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"As revealed by John Samples in his essential new book, the battle over the size and role of government has been raging for decades. Arriving at a critical time, with clashes over limiting government occupying more battlefields than ever, The Struggle to Limit Government chronicles this war's history, as well as its implications for the future." "In examining the high and low points of the nearly 30-year struggle, from the Reagan revolution to the Obama administration, Samples first provides a fascinating look at the institutions and policies created by progressives from 1933 to 1968 - the New Deal and Great Society - and their influence on all that has followed. "The institutions and policies of the old regime created both a politics of entitlement and a people who favor the persistence of such benefits," writes Samples. "It fostered a dependence on government amongst a people culturally disposed to liberty."" "Samples then assesses the rise, successes, and failures of Ronald Reagan, the historic 1994 elections, and the ensuing unsuccessful struggles to fulfill Reagan's goal of reversing government's growth. He traces the drift of the Republican majority in Congress, and the epic battles within and between the Republican and Democratic parties, Congress, and Bill Clinton, which left us nowhere - with "neither limited government nor enduring majorities."" "The book then examines the trauma of George W. Bush: his high spending, his mixture of religion with government, and his floundering crusade to bring democracy to the Middle East. The 2006 and 2008 elections, Samples shows, were a repudiation of the Bush presidency, not of limited government." "Samples does not simply point and critique; he also includes extensive prescriptions for improvement. With its political analysis of major government programs, from Medicare and Medicaid to Social Security and taxes, The Struggle to Limit Government is an energetic, sobering, and essential guide to the political battles of today and tomorrow."--Book Jacket
What American Government Does
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It has become all too easy to disparage the role of the US government today. Many Americans are influenced by a simplistic anti-government ideology that is itself driven by a desire to roll back the more democratically responsive aspects of public policy. But government has improved the lives of Americans in numerous ways, from providing income, food, education, housing, and healthcare support, to ensuring cleaner air, water, and food, to providing a vast infrastructure upon which economic growth depends. In What American Government Does, Stan Luger and Brian Waddell offer a practical understanding of the scope and function of American governance. They present a historical overview of the development of US governance that is rooted in the theoretical work of Charles Tilly, Karl Polanyi, and Michael Mann. Touching on everything from taxes, welfare, and national and domestic security to the government's regulatory, developmental, and global responsibilities, each chapter covers a main function of American government and explains how it emerged and then evolved over time. Luger and Waddell are careful to both identify the controversies related to what government does and those areas of government that should elicit concern and vigilance. Analyzing the functions of the US government in terms of both a tug-of-war and a collaboration between state and societal forces, they provide a reading of American political development that dispels the myth of a weak, minimal, non-interventionist state. What American Government Does represents a major contribution to the scholarly debate on the nature of the American state and the exercise of power in America. -- Provided by publisher.
American Governance
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"Provides scholarship on a wide range of essential issues related to how Americans govern themselves. Key topics include formal frameworks such as the various U.S. and state constitutions and federal, state, and local governments, as well as the formation and action of citizens"-- Provided by publisher.
American Politics: A Very Short Introduction
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American politics seems to grow more contentious and complicated by the day, and whether American democracy works well is hotly debated. Amidst all this roiling partisan argument and confusing claims and counterclaims, there has never been a greater need for an impartial primer on the basics of the American political system. This Very Short Introduction gives readers a concise, accessible, and sophisticated overview of the vital elements of American democracy, emphasizing both how these elements function, their historical origins, and how they have evolved into their present forms. Richard Valelly covers all facets of America's political system: the bicameral Congress and the place of the filibuster, the legislative-executive process, the role of the Supreme Court, political parties and democratic choice, bureaucracy, the partisan revival, and the political economy. He offers as well an original analysis of the evolution of the American presidency and a fascinating chapter on the effects of public polling on political decision-making and voter representation. Valelly shows that the American political system is, and always has been, very much a work in progress--unfolding within, and also constantly updating, an eighteenth-century constitutional framework. In a refreshingly balanced and judicious assessment, he explores the strengths of American democracy while candidly acknowledging both gaps in representation and the increasing income inequality have sparked protest and intense public discussion. Finally, Valelly considers the remarkable persistence, for more than two centuries, of the basic constitutional forms established in 1787, despite the dramatic social changes that have reshaped virtually all aspects of American life. For anyone wishing to understand the nuts and bolts of how our political system works--and sometimes fails to work--this Very Short Introduction is the very best place to start. About the Series: Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.
The Handy American Government Answer Book
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Filling the breach and answering basic questions about how our very complex government operates and what it promises, The Handy American Government Answer Book: How Washington, Politics, and Elections Work takes a comprehensive look at the historic development of the government, the functions of each branch of government, and the systems, people, and policies that comprise American democracy.
US Government and Politics
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The US political system is designed to ensure that freedom and opportunity will always be protected, by making it almost impossible for power to become concentrated in the hands of a few people seeking to run society for their own benefit. Have these aims been achieved?The answer is that Americans have sharply contrasting views on how well their political system works. They disagreed with each other when they established the system at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and have continued to disagree ever since. This book covers the key issues, political systems and governing institutions at the heart of these disagreements, outlining the thinking behind the main points of view, to help its readers decide for themselves which viewpoint they find most persuasive.This new edition of the best-selling introduction to US Government and Politics has been completely revised and updated to reflect the changes in the area since the election of the new President.Key Features*Presents a readable, accessible but academically stimulating introduction to the government and politics of the USA*Evaluates the US political system through the topics of: the Constitution; Race; the Supreme Court; Federalism; Elections; Political Parties; Pressure Groups; Congress; The Presidency.
Congress A to Z
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Congress A to Z provides ready-reference insight into the national legislature, its organization, processes, personalities, major legislation, and history. No other volume so clearly and concisely explains every key aspect of the national legislature. The Sixth Edition of this classic, easy-to-use reference is updated with new entries covering the dramatic congressional events of recent years, including social media usage by members of Congress, the politics of recent debt ceiling and deficit spending showdowns with the executive branch, new floor leaders in both chambers, and campaign finance patterns. Each of the more than 250 entries, arranged in encyclopedic A-to-Z format, provides insight into the key questions readers have about the U.S. Congress and helps them make sense of the narrow power division between Republicans and Democrats, the methods members use to advance their agendas, the influence of lobby groups, the key role of committees and strong-willed leaders, and much more. Key Features: Quick answers to questions as well as in-depth background on the U.S. Congress Historical and contemporary photos Detailed appendices, tables, internet addresses, and index
Dictionary of American Government and Politics
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This Dictionary offers a fresh, up-to-date look at US government and politics, explaining and where necessary demystifying the key terms used in discussion of the political system. Major figures, events, ideas, movements and Supreme Court cases relevant to a study of the American political system are included with the aim of allowing readers to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the area. The Dictionary also raises key issues and areas of contention and academic debate. Coverage is comprehensive, with c.400 entries, each providing analysis of the subject. Terms are presented in an A-Z format with cross-referencing where appropriate.
Encyclopedia of American Government and Civics
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Articles herein address not only basic subjects covered in the study of American government -- from the Bill of Rights through voting processes--but also a wide range of contemporary issues such as abortion, capital punishment, and Social Security.
Encyclopedia of the Continental Congresses
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This title examines the in-depth history of the first Continental Congress in 1774 and the first Federal Congress in 1789. Coverage dives into the impact and role in the shaping and foundation of early American Society and government.
The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History
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An essential resource for anyone interested in U.S. history and politics, this two-volume encyclopedia covers the major forces that have shaped American politics from the founding to today. Broad in scope, the book addresses both the traditional topics of political history--such as eras, institutions, political parties, presidents, and founding documents---and the wider subjects of current scholarship, including military, electoral, and economic events, as well as social movements, popular culture, religion, education, race, gender, and more.