A Machine That Would Go of Itself: The Constitution in American Culture / Edition 1

by Russell Fraser, Michael Kammen

Overview

In this volume, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Michael Kammen explores the U.S. Constitution's place in the public consciousness and its role as a symbol in American life, from ratification in 1788 to our own time. As he examines what the Constitution has meant to the American people (perceptions and misperceptions, uses and abuses, knowledge and ignorance), Kammen shows that although there are recurrent declarations of reverence most of us neither know nor fully understand our Constitution. How did this gap between ideal and reality come about? To explain it, Kammen examines the complex and contradictory feelings about the Constitution that emerged during its preparation and that have been with us ever since. He begins with our confusion as to the kind of Union we created, especially with regard to how much sovereignty the states actually surrendered to the central government. This confusion is the source of the constitutional crisis that led to the Civil War and its aftermath. Kammen also describes and analyzes changing perceptions of the differences and similarities between the British and American constitutions; turn-of-the-century debates about states' rights versus national authority; and disagreements about how easy or difficult it ought to be to amend the Constitution. Moving into the twentieth century, he notes the development of a "cult of the Constitution" following World War I, and the conflict over policy issues that persisted despite a shared commitment to the Constitution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412805834
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	11/15/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	578
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michael Kammen is the Newton C. Farr Professor of American History and Culture at Cornell University. His books include Spheres of Liberty: Changing Perceptions of Liberty in American Culture and A Season of Youth: The American Revolution and the Historical Imagination. He was awarded the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization.

Table of Contents

1: The Problem of Constitutionalism in American Culture; 1: The Most Wonderful Instrument Ever Drawn by the Hand of Man; 2: To Make the Constitution a Practical System; 3: All That Gives Us a National Character; 4: The Constitution Threatens to Be a Subject of Infinite Sects; 2: A Machine That Would Go of Itself; 5: On This Day, One Hundred Years Ago; 6: The American and the British Constitution Are Two Entirely Different Things; 7: The Crisis in Constitutionalism; 3: America is Always Talking About its Constitution; 8: God Knows How Dearly We Need a Constitutional Revival; 9: Decisions Are Politics When Constitutional Questions Are Up for Decision; 10: My God! Making a Racket out of the Constitution; 4: The Pendulum of Public Opinion; 11: Illegal Defiance of Constitutional Authority; 12: Our Bill of Rights Is Under Subtle and Pervasive Attack; 13: The Public Got Strange and Distorted Views of the Court and Its Rulings; 14: It’s What Holds Us All Together

Editorial Reviews

"Michael Kammen's brilliant book is the most helpful contribution to the emerging Bicentennial [of the federal Constitution of 1787] thus far because it demythologizes the Constitution in a responsible manner... This is a very important book." – Stanley N. Katz, Washington Post "Michael Kammen has focused his vast learning and erudition on the cultural impact of the American Constitution. The result is unique, refreshing, and highly rewarding." – Stanley I. Kutler, American Historical Review

From the Publisher