An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States

by Charles Austin Beard

Overview

An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, written by Charles Austin Beard, and published in 1913 argues that the structure of the Constitution of the United States was motivated primarily by the personal financial interests of the Founding Fathers; Beard contends that the authors of The Federalist Papers represented an interest group themselves. More specifically, Beard contends that the Constitutional Convention was attended by, and the Constitution was therefore written by, a "cohesive" elite seeking to protect its personal property (especially federal bonds) and economic standing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781718621190
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Pages:	170
Sales rank:	454,288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.36(d)

Table of Contents

I.	Historical Interpretation in the United States	1
II.	A Survey of Economic Interests in 1787	19
III.	The Movement for the Constitution	52
IV.	Property Safeguards in the Election of Delegates	64
V.	The Economic Interests of the Members of the Convention	73
VI.	The Constitution as an Economic Document	152
VII.	The Political Doctrines of the Members of the Convention	189
VIII.	The Process of Ratification	217
IX.	The Popular Vote on the Constitution	239
X.	The Economics of the Vote on the Constitution	253
XI.	The Economic Conflict over Ratification as viewed by Contemporaries	292

Editorial Reviews

In this 1913 volume, Beard, the founder of the New School for Social Research, contends that the Founding Fathers included a clear strategy for Colonial economics in the writing of the Constitution. A staple for history and economics collections. (Classic Returns, LJ 11/1/98)

Library Journal

Beard (1874-1948), who taught at Columbia University and was a founder of The New School for Social Research, uses the letters, papers, and documents of the men who took part in framing and adopting the Constitution to assess their economic interests in it. The new introduction to this classic in American historiography provides a sense of the person behind the book. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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