Colonists, Citizens, Constitutions: Creating the American Republic

Colonists, Citizens, Constitutions highlights documents that tell the story of American constitutionalism from the founding era through the turn of the twentieth century. Accompanying a major exhibition at the New-York Historical Society featuring the only privately owned copy of the original US constitution, these federal and state constitutional materials offer essential windows onto the history of the United States. Remarkably numerous and impressively diverse, constitutions enabled Americans to create revolutionary governments of, by, and for the people. Weaving both well-known and less familiar documents into a compelling narrative, the accessible text reveals how Americans have exercised their constitutional powers to shape their communities and why democracy remains an ongoing process, one in which citizens must constantly strive to create ‘more perfect’ unions among themselves. AUTHOR: James F. Hrdlicka is a postdoctoral research scholar in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies and the Program in Political History and Leadership at Arizona State University. Previously he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Demoracy at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his PhD in History from the University of Virginia. SELLING POINTS: . Foreword by Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States . Accompanies an exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, from 26 February to 26 May 2020 . First public view of these privately owned documents together, including the only privately owned copy of the original US Constitution . Timely publication during the politically-charged 2020 US Presidential election year 80 colour illustrations