Here, in a single volume, is a selection of the classic critiques
of the new Constitution penned by such ardent defenders of states'
rights and personal liberty as George Mason, Patrick Henry, and
Melancton Smith; pro-Constitution writings by James Wilson and Noah
Webster; and thirty-three of the best-known and most crucial
Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John
Jay. The texts of the chief constitutional documents of the early
Republic are included as well. David Wootton's illuminating
Introduction examines the history of such American principles of
government as checks and balances, the separation of powers,
representation by election, and judicial independence--including
their roots in the largely Scottish, English, and French new
science of politics. It also offers suggestions for reading The
Federalist, the classic elaboration of these principles written in
defense of a new Constitution that sought to apply them to the
young Republic.