The 233-year story of how the American people have taken an imperfect constitution—the product of compromises and an artifact of its time—and made it more democratic Who wrote the Constitution? That’s obvious, we think: fifty-five men in Philadelphia in 1787. But much of the Constitution was actually written later, in a series of twenty-seven amendments enacted over the course of two centuries. The real history of the Constitution is the astonishing story of how subsequent generations have reshaped our founding document amid some of the most colorful, contested, and controversial battles in American political life. It’s a story of how We the People have improved our government’s structure and expanded the scope of our democracy during eras of transformational social change. The People’s Constitution is an elegant, sobering, and masterly account of the evolution of American democracy. From the addition of the Bill of Rights, a promise made to save the Constitution from near certain defeat, to the post–Civil War battle over the Fourteenth Amendment, from the rise and fall of the “noble experiment” of Prohibition to the defeat and resurgence of an Equal Rights Amendment a century in the making, The People’s Constitution is the first book of its kind: a vital guide to America’s national charter, and an alternative history of the continuing struggle to realize the Framers’ promise of a more perfect union.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Reveals how the Constitution has evolved over the past 235 years, featuring updated coverage of the 2020 presidential election and constitutional changes made by the Supreme Court up to June 2021 American Constitutional History: A Brief Introduction, Second Edition presents a concise and accessible history of the 235-year development of the Constitution since its ratification. The book is organized around five distinct periods in U.S. history—the New Republic, the Slave Republic, the Free-Market Republic, the Social Welfare Republic, and the Contemporary Republic—to demonstrate the evolution of the American republic and its founding document over time. With an engaging narrative approach, author Jack Fruchtman describes how constitutional changes have occurred through both formal amendments and informal decisions by the president, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Updated to cover the period from 2015 to 2021, the second edition examines the controversial presidential election of 2020 in which Donald Trump, despite losing the electoral and popular vote, claimed victory and espoused charges of widespread election fraud. New coverage of the addition of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court is complemented by discussion of important decisions made after 2015, including affirming same-sex marriage, a woman's right to abortion under certain circumstances, the right to own and carry a firearm, and the central place of religious liberty in American society. This book also: Highlights the Constitution's evolution through government regulation of the economy, individual and civil rights, and executive power Reflects the evolution of constitutional changes made by the Supreme Court up to June 2021 Discusses topics such as the ideological origins of the U.S Constitution, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the civil rights movement, and growth of executive power Includes chapter overviews, summaries, and descriptions of formal constitutional amendments ratified by the states American Constitutional History: A Brief Introduction, Second Edition is an excellent introductory textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in American history and political science and a must-read for general readers seeking insights into the origins and evolution of the U.S. Constitution.

Reviews the origins and rationale of the constitutional structure and the current debate about whether reform is needed. New in this edition of the 1986 work is discussion of Congressional term limits and of proposed changes to the electoral college. Paper edition (unseen), $15.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR