Kevin R. C. Gutzman is professor of history at Western Connecticut State University. Professor Gutzman is the author of the recently released James Madison and the Making of America; and Virginia’s American Revolution: From Dominion to Republic, 1776-1840. Professor Gutzman's first book was the New York Times best-seller The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution. More of his writings can be accessed at KevinGutzman.com
Sanford Levinson here sets himself the task of examining not what he calls the “Constitution of Conversation,” but what he terms the “Constitution of Settlement.” He notes that many people devote barrels of ink to proposing meanings that they …
Political rhetoric does more than simply convey partisan messages. It can also provide insight into changing conceptions of the relationship between the citizen and government, the ruled and the rulers.
So, for example, in its 1776 Declaration of Independence, the …
Ratifying the U.S. Constitution in Virginia
The Philadelphia Convention rent Virginia’s political elite as no event ever had. Not only had Patrick Henry refused his proffered seat (he said he “smelt a rat”), but two of the three delegates who …
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