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The cover of Ratification

Ratification

Pauline Maier

How did ordinary Americans, not only the famous founders, argue over and decide whether to adopt the Constitution?

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At a glance

Author
Pauline Maier

Why read it

  • You will see that the Constitution was a proposal that had to win public argument state by state
  • You will learn how a large public argument was carried on in print, in taverns and in meeting halls
  • You will understand how people little known outside their towns studied a founding document and made their views count

Who it is for

  • A citizen who wonders how the Constitution came to be adopted
  • Someone who has heard only the founding fathers' side of the story
  • A teacher or debater who wants real examples of public argument

Contents

  1. INTRODUCTION Playing Games
  2. PROLOGUE The View from Mount Vernon
  3. ONE The Morning After
  4. TWO “Take This or Nothing”
  5. THREE A War of Printed Words
  6. FOUR The Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention
  7. FIVE “We the People” of Connecticut and Massachusetts
  8. SIX The Massachusetts Ratifying Convention I
  9. SEVEN The Massachusetts Convention II
  10. EIGHT A Rough Road to Richmond
  11. NINE The Virginia Convention I
  12. TEN The Virginia Convention II
  13. ELEVEN On to Poughkeepsie
  14. TWELVE The New York Convention I
  15. THIRTEEN The New York Convention II
  16. FOURTEEN Some Final Twists
  17. EPILOGUE “Playing the After Game”
  18. POSTSCRIPT In Memoriam
  19. APPENDIX The Constitution of the United States and the First Ten Amendments
  20. Photo Insert

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