Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution
Written by Woody Holton
Narrated by Cassandra Campbell
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Woody Holton upends what we think we know of the Constitution's origins by telling the history of the average Americans who challenged the framers of the Constitution and forced on them the revisions that produced the document we now venerate. The framers who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 were determined to reverse America's post-Revolutionary War slide into democracy. They believed too many middling Americans exercised too much influence over state and national policies. That the framers were only partially successful in curtailing citizen rights is due to the reaction, sometimes violent, of unruly average Americans.
If not to protect civil liberties and the freedom of the people, what motivated the framers? In Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution, Holton provides the startling discovery that the primary purpose of the Constitution was, simply put, to make America more attractive to investment. And the linchpin to that endeavor was taking power away from the states and ultimately away from the people. In an eye-opening interpretation of the Constitution, Holton captures how the same class of Americans that produced Shays's Rebellion in Massachusetts (and rebellions in damn near every other state) produced the Constitution we now revere.
Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution is a 2007 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction.
Woody Holton
Woody Holton is McCausland Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, where he teaches and researches Early American history, especially the American Revolution, with a focus on economic history and on African Americans, Native Americans, and women. He is the author of several previous books, including Abigail Adams, which was awarded the Bancroft Prize; his second book, Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution, was a finalist for the National Book Award.
More audiobooks from Woody Holton
Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Abigail Adams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution
Related audiobooks
The Framers' Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second Amendment: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Republican Constitution: Securing the Liberty and Sovereignty of We the People Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery, and the Refounding of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Washington: The Making of the American Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Armed in America: A History of Gun Rights from Colonial Militias to Concealed Carry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What the Founding Fathers were Really Like (and What We can Learn from Them Today): (and What We Can Learn From Them Today) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bill of Rights: The Fight to Secure America's Liberties Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Crooked Path to Abolition: Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/551 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of America's Founders Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election That Saved a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits, and the Struggle for the Constitution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Negro President: Jefferson and the Slave Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5E Pluribus Unum: How the Common Law Helped Unify and Liberate Colonial America, 1607-1776 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIndependence: The Struggle to Set America Free Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America's Judicial Hero Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The "Great Truth" about the "Lost Cause" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brotherhood of the Revolution: How America's Founders Forged a New Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
American Government For You
Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Profiles in Ignorance: How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Have the Right to Remain Innocent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anti-Intellectualism in American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nine Black Robes: Inside the Supreme Court's Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crimes and Cover-ups in American Politics: 1776-1963 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life Sentence: The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore’s Deadliest Gang Leader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why We're Polarized Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Watergate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street Is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn't Vote For Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Puppeteers: The People Who Control the People Who Control America Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the President's Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Account of Race: The Supreme Court, White Supremacy, and the Ravaging of African American Voting Rights Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Marxism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peril Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The White House Plumbers: The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anti-Communist Manifesto Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution
17 ratings0 reviews