The Words That Made US
America's Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840
Basic Books · Print & ebook · May 4, 2021
From a preeminent legal scholar, a “fascinating” and “masterful” (Wall Street Journal) history of the American Constitution's formative decades When the US Constitution won popular approval in 1788, it was the culmination of thirty years of passionate argument over the nature of government.
We earn from qualifying purchases.
- Who it’s for
- A brisk guide to the words, arguments, and habits that shaped a new constitutional order.
- Genres
- Constitutional Law, Revolutionary America (1775-1800), Constitutional Theory
- Published
- Basic Books, May 4, 2021
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.
American CreationJoseph J. Ellis62% matchShares Revolutionary America (1775-1800)
The Rise and Fall of the Second American RepublicManisha Sinha52% match
Fault LinesKevin M. Kruse, Julian E. Zelizer56% match
Freedom’s Dominion (winner of the Pulitzer Prize)Jefferson Cowie, Jefferson R. Cowie53% match
The Anti-federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention DebatesRalph Ketcham71% matchShares Revolutionary America (1775-1800) and Constitutional Theory
A Brilliant SolutionCarol Berkin71% matchShares Constitutional Law, Revolutionary America (1775-1800) and Constitutional Theory
The Second FoundingEric Foner67% matchShares Constitutional Law
For younger readers: What Is the Constitution?, Fault Lines in the Constitution, Shh! We're Writing the Constitution
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Start with this bookAbout this book
From a preeminent legal scholar, a “fascinating” and “masterful” (Wall Street Journal) history of the American Constitution's formative decades When the US Constitution won popular approval in 1788, it was the culmination of thirty years of passionate argument over the nature of government. But ratification hardly ended the conversation.
Continue reading
For the next half century, ordinary Americans and statesmen alike continued to wrestle with weighty questions in the halls of government and in the pages of newspapers. Should the nation's borders be expanded? Should America allow slavery to spread westward? What rights should Indian nations hold? What was the proper role of the judicial branch? In The Words That Made Us, Akhil Reed Amar unites history and law in a vivid narrative of the biggest constitutional questions early Americans confronted, and he expertly assesses the answers they offered. His account of the document's origins and consolidation is a guide for anyone seeking to properly understand America's Constitution today.
Constitutional Stakes
A brisk guide to the words, arguments, and habits that shaped a new constitutional order.
Come here for
- constitutional conversation as the main event
- civic language, legal texture, historical context
Expect
- history with a strong interpretive spine
- enough court-and-culture friction to spark discussion
Where it sits
| Constitutional Law | 66% |
|---|---|
| Revolutionary America (1775-1800) | 53% |
| Constitutional Theory | 35% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Colonial America (to 1775)
- Revolutionary America (1775-1800)
- 19th-Century America
- Constitutional Law
Show all 5 publisher categories
- Legal History
- Authors
- Akhil Reed Amar
- Publisher
- Basic Books
- Published
- May 4, 2021
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Colonial America (to 1775)