Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution

2008-10-14 History

Author : Woody Holton
Release : 2008-10-14
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 660/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution by : Woody Holton

Download or read book Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution written by Woody Holton. This book was released on 2008-10-14. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Average Americans Were the True Framers of the Constitution Woody Holton upends what we think we know of the Constitution's origins by telling the history of the average Americans who challenged the framers of the Constitution and forced on them the revisions that produced the document we now venerate. The framers who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 were determined to reverse America's post–Revolutionary War slide into democracy. They believed too many middling Americans exercised too much influence over state and national policies. That the framers were only partially successful in curtailing citizen rights is due to the reaction, sometimes violent, of unruly average Americans. If not to protect civil liberties and the freedom of the people, what motivated the framers? In Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution, Holton provides the startling discovery that the primary purpose of the Constitution was, simply put, to make America more attractive to investment. And the linchpin to that endeavor was taking power away from the states and ultimately away from the people. In an eye-opening interpretation of the Constitution, Holton captures how the same class of Americans that produced Shays's Rebellion in Massachusetts (and rebellions in damn near every other state) produced the Constitution we now revere. Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution is a 2007 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction.

Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution

2007-10-02 History

Author : Woody Holton
Release : 2007-10-02
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 618/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution by : Woody Holton

Download or read book Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution written by Woody Holton. This book was released on 2007-10-02. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the original intent behind the writing of the Constitution and how it was shaped by the reactions, occasionally violent ones, of citizens to include a protection of civil liberties and the freedom of the people.

Summary of Woody Holton's Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution

2022-08-08T22:59:00Z Political Science

Author : Everest Media,
Release : 2022-08-08T22:59:00Z
Genre : Political Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Summary of Woody Holton's Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution by : Everest Media,

Download or read book Summary of Woody Holton's Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution written by Everest Media,. This book was released on 2022-08-08T22:59:00Z. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The American Revolution was supported by many private creditors, who were among the Constitution’s most ardent supporters. However, Beard’s interpretation does not explain the enthusiasm that the proposed national government inspired in men such as Madison and Alexander Hamilton. #2 The American economy was in dire need of capital in 1787, and the framers believed that a national government was the only way to attract it. They believed that a virtuous government would attract capital, and that cracking down on debtors and taxpayers would end the terrible recession that had followed the Revolutionary War. #3 In 1786, Madison and Monroe bought land on the Mohawk River, nine miles from the site of the Stanwix treaty. They knew their plan contained a fatal flaw, as Americans were becoming more and more reluctant to lend money to their fellow citizens. #4 Americans, just like James Madison, were frustrated with the economic situation in their country. They were unable to borrow money, and this led to many ambitious men trying to find ways to get loans so they could buy land and expand their trade networks.

Liberty Is Sweet

2021-10-19 History

Author : Woody Holton
Release : 2021-10-19
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 394/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Liberty Is Sweet by : Woody Holton

Download or read book Liberty Is Sweet written by Woody Holton. This book was released on 2021-10-19. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “deeply researched and bracing retelling” (Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian) of the American Revolution, showing how the Founders were influenced by overlooked Americans—women, Native Americans, African Americans, and religious dissenters. Using more than a thousand eyewitness records, Liberty Is Sweet is a “spirited account” (Gordon S. Wood, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution) that explores countless connections between the Patriots of 1776 and other Americans whose passion for freedom often brought them into conflict with the Founding Fathers. “It is all one story,” prizewinning historian Woody Holton writes. Holton describes the origins and crucial battles of the Revolution from Lexington and Concord to the British surrender at Yorktown, always focusing on marginalized Americans—enslaved Africans and African Americans, Native Americans, women, and dissenters—and on overlooked factors such as weather, North America’s unique geography, chance, misperception, attempts to manipulate public opinion, and (most of all) disease. Thousands of enslaved Americans exploited the chaos of war to obtain their own freedom, while others were given away as enlistment bounties to whites. Women provided material support for the troops, sewing clothes for soldiers and in some cases taking part in the fighting. Both sides courted native people and mimicked their tactics. Liberty Is Sweet is a “must-read book for understanding the founding of our nation” (Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin), from its origins on the frontiers and in the Atlantic ports to the creation of the Constitution. Offering surprises at every turn—for example, Holton makes a convincing case that Britain never had a chance of winning the war—this majestic history revivifies a story we thought we already knew.

Abigail Adams

2010-06-01 Biography & Autobiography

Author : Woody Holton
Release : 2010-06-01
Genre : Biography & Autobiography
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 369/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Abigail Adams by : Woody Holton

Download or read book Abigail Adams written by Woody Holton. This book was released on 2010-06-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Bancroft Prize The New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice American Heritage, Best of 2009 In this vivid new biography of Abigail Adams, the most illustrious woman of the founding era, Bancroft Award–winning historian Woody Holton offers a sweeping reinterpretation of Adams’s life story and of women’s roles in the creation of the republic. Using previously overlooked documents from numerous archives, Abigail Adams shows that the wife of the second president of the United States was far more charismatic and influential than historians have realized. One of the finest writers of her age, Adams passionately campaigned for women’s education, denounced sex discrimination, and matched wits not only with her brilliant husband, John, but with Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. When male Patriots ignored her famous appeal to "Remember the Ladies," she accomplished her own personal declaration of independence: Defying centuries of legislation that assigned married women’s property to their husbands, she amassed a fortune in her own name. Adams’s life story encapsulates the history of the founding era, for she defined herself in relation to the people she loved or hated (she was never neutral), a cast of characters that included her mother and sisters; Benjamin Franklin and James Lovell, her husband’s bawdy congressional colleagues; Phoebe Abdee, her father’s former slave; her financially naïve husband; and her son John Quincy. At once epic and intimate, Abigail Adams, sheds light on a complicated, fascinating woman, one of the most beloved figures of American history.

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Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution

Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution

Summary of Woody Holton's Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution

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Abigail Adams

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