An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States

An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States

by Charles A. Beard
An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States

An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States

by Charles A. Beard

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Overview

In this famous study, the author turned the hagiography of many earlier American historians on its head. Unlike those writers, who had stressed idealistic impulses as factors determining the structure of the American government, Beard questioned the Founding Fathers' motivations in drafting the Constitution and viewed the results as a product of economic self-interest.

Brimming with human interest, insights, and information every student of American history will prize, this volume -- one of the most controversial books of its time -- continues to prompt new perceptions of the supreme law of the land.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780486433653
Publisher: Dover Publications
Publication date: 05/20/2004
Pages: 336
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Louis Filler (1911-1998) was a Fulbright fellow at the University of Bristol and taught as a visiting professor in literature and history departments from the City University of New York to the University of California, San Francisco. His books include the classic Muckrakers, best-selling Crusade Against Slavery, Dictionary of American Social Reform, Unknown, Edwin Markham, Dictionary of American Conservatism, Vanguards and Followers, Distinguished Shades: Americans Whose Lives Live On,and Abolition and Social Justice in the Era of Reform, among many others, as well as biographies of Randolph Bourne and David Graham Phillips. Charles A. Beard (1874-1948) is regarded as one of the most influential American historians in the first half of the twentieth century. He is famous for his evaluation of the founding fathers of the United States, who he believed were motivated by economics as opposed to philosophical principles. Some of his works include An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy, and The Administration and Politics of Tokyo.

Table of Contents

I.Historical Interpretation in the United States1
II.A Survey of Economic Interests in 178719
III.The Movement for the Constitution52
IV.Property Safeguards in the Election of Delegates64
V.The Economic Interests of the Members of the Convention73
VI.The Constitution as an Economic Document152
VII.The Political Doctrines of the Members of the Convention189
VIII.The Process of Ratification217
IX.The Popular Vote on the Constitution239
X.The Economics of the Vote on the Constitution253
XI.The Economic Conflict over Ratification as viewed by Contemporaries292
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