Plain, honest men : the making of the American Constitution
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 447-448) and index.

Written by a historian this is an account of the men who met in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 to design a radically new form of government. The author takes readers behind the scenes and beyond the debate to show how the world's most enduring constitution was forged through conflict, compromise, and, eventually, fragile consensus during a time when many Americans feared that a combination of financial distress and civil unrest would doom the young nation's experiment in liberty. The book captures the dynamic of the debate and the characters of the men who labored that summer in Phildelphia, among them James Madison, Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania, Maryland's Luther Martin, Roger Sherman, delegate from Connecticut, and General George Washington. The issues debated, including the extent of presidential power, the nature of federalism, and most explosive of all, the role of slavery, have continued to provoke conflict throughout the nation's history. This book is about the men both grand and humble who wrote a document that would live longer than they ever imagined.