A01=Melvin Yazawa
American Confederation
Articles of Confederation
Author_Melvin Yazawa
Category=JPHC
Category=NHK
Constitutional Convention 1787
Constitutional Crisis
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Federal Convention
Federalism
Founding Fathers
Interstate Disputes
James Madison
Ratification Debate
Shays' Rebellion
State Sovereignty
Product details
- ISBN 9781421420264
- Weight: 431g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 10 Oct 2016
- Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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There is perhaps no more critical juncture in American history than the years in which Americans drafted the federal Constitution, fiercely debated its merits and failings, and adopted it, albeit with reservations. In Contested Conventions, senior historian Melvin Yazawa examines the political and ideological clashes that accompanied the transformation of the country from a loose confederation of states to a more perfect union. Treating the 1787-1789 period as a whole, the book highlights the contingent nature of the struggle to establish the Constitution and brings into focus the overriding concern of the framers and ratifiers, who struggled to counter what Alexander Hamilton identified as the "centrifugal" forces driving Americans toward a disastrous disunion. This concern inspired the delegates in Philadelphia to resolve through compromise the two most divisive confrontations of the Constitutional Convention-representation in the new Congress and slavery-and was instrumental in gaining ratification even in states where Antifederalist delegates comprised a substantial majority.
Arguing that the debates over ratification reflected competing ideas about the meaning of American nationhood, Yazawa illuminates the nature of the crisis that necessitated the meeting at Philadelphia in the first place. Contested Conventions is a cohesive and compelling account of the defining issues that led to the establishment of the Constitution; it should appeal to history students and scholars alike.
Melvin Yazawa is professor emeritus of history at the University of New Mexico. He is the author of From Colonies to Commonwealth: Familial Ideology and the Beginnings of the American Republic and the editor of The Diary and Life of Samuel Sewall.
