3 Review(s)

Bertell Ollman, and Jonathan Birnbaum show in this book just how the Constitution of the United States works, for whom it works better, and for whom it works worse. They show how and why the Constitution first acquired its character, and we discover not only what the Consitution has meant but what it may yet mean in our future. The most important figures who have written on the consitution from the beginning of the Republic are here, from the anti-federalist, abolitionists, feminists, muckrakers and progressives to the socialists. Section 1 outlines the main events and problems that led up to and contributed to the calling of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Section 2 concentrates on what actually happened at the convention. Section 3 deals with the 200-year history of interpretations and amendments that followed. Section 4 offers a number of ideas that should prove helpful in constructing the adequate theory of the Constitution that still eludes us.