An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States

by Charles A. Beard

Overview

A CONTROVERSIAL INTERPRETATION OF THE FOUNDERS' INTENTIONS
Beard's interpretation proposes that the Framers of the Federal
Constitution were motivated primarily by economic concerns.
This argument was widely held until the late 1950s, when it was gradually undermined by later research, much of it stimulated by
Beard's work. Although most scholars today see the origins of the revolution in terms of the history of ideas, especially republicanism,
Beard's work remains fundamental and has insured a continued focus on the economic aspect of the nation's establishment, as well as a wider awareness of the role of economic interests in history.

". . . one of 'the basic works' on the Federal Convention of 1787." --JAMES WILLARD HURST, The Growth of American Law 458

CHARLES A. BEARD [1874-1948] was one of the most influential American historians of the first half of the 20th century. A founder of The New School for Social Research, he was the author of several works including T he Supreme Court and the Constitution (1912), Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy (1915) and The Rise of American Civilization (1927), co-written with his wife, the historian Mary Beard.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616192075
Publisher:	The Lawbook Exchange
Publication date:	09/21/2011
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	342
Sales rank:	631,452
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.76(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 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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