Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787

by Christopher Collier

Overview

Includes a complete copy of the Constitution.
Fifty-five men met in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a document that would create a country and change a world. Here is a remarkable rendering of that fateful time, told with humanity and humor. "The best popular history of the Constitutional Convention available."—Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780345498403
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/26/2007
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	181,033
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.99(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Christopher Collier is an author and historian. He attended Clark University and Columbia University, where he earned his PhD. He was the official Connecticut State Historian from 1984 to 2004 and is now professor of history emeritus at the University of Connecticut. He is the brother of James Lincoln Collier, with whom he has written a number of novels, most of which are based on historic events. His books have been nominated for several awards, including the Newbery Honor and the Pulitzer Prize.

Table of Contents

Preface     ix
"Our Case May Become Desperate"     ix
A Nation in Jeopardy     3
America in 1787     18
The Mind of James Madison     33
The Unbelievable George Washington     40
Madison Plans a Government     58
Alexander Hamilton and the British Model     76
The Puzzle of Charles Pinckney     87
Men, Manners, and Rules: The Convention Begins     102
The Large States and the Small     117
Roger Sherman and the Art of Compromise     119
William Paterson Picks a Fight     136
The Battle Joined     146
Luther Martin and a Lost Opportunity     155
"The Most Serious and Threatening Excitement"     164
North and South     181
A New Alliance     183
The Western Lands     205
Another Trade-off     223
The Question of Power     241
Balancing Act     243
Curing the Republican Disease     259
James Wilson, Democratic Nationalist     274
In the Shadow of Washington     289
Elbridge Gerry's War Against the Army     312
George Mason and the Rights of Man     332
"The Most Remarkable Work"     351
The Articles of Confederation     365
The Constitution of the United States     375
Citations to Sources     389
Selected Bibliography     405
Index     423

Editorial Reviews

The advent of the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution in 1987 calls for a new treatment of the Philadelphia Con vention, one which is written for the general public and informed by recent scholarship. Decision in Philadelphia is just such a book. It is the best popular history of the Constitutional Conven tion available. This clear and well-writ ten volume traces the major issues in volved, dismissing sectional, economic, or class interests as domi nant factors and concentrating instead on the ``deeply rooted attitudes'' and ``emotions'' of individual members. Modern readers will find the authors' comments on the Constitution particu larly interesting, casting many of the Founding Fathers in a new light. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries. Roy H. Tryon, Delaware State Archives, Dover

Library Journal