The Civic Constitution

Civic Visions and Struggles in the Path toward Constitutional Democracy

Elizabeth Beaumont

Synthesizes in-depth historical accounts with important theoretical arguments to challenge prevailing legal and theoretical approaches to questions about the source of constitutionalism
Argues that revolutionaries, anti-federalists, abolitionists, and suffragists should be recognized as civic founders and co-founders of the U.S. Constitution
Explores the role of engaged citizens and social movements in shaping the legal text and terms of modern constitutionalism

The Civic Constitution

Civic Visions and Struggles in the Path toward Constitutional Democracy

Elizabeth Beaumont

Description

How have generations of Americans debated and shaped the constitutional meanings of liberty, equality, justice, and "We, the people"? What roles have engaged citizens and social movements played in effecting transformative constitutional change? These questions are at the heart of Elizabeth Beaumont's lucid and compelling study. In The Civic Constitution, she traces four crucial eras of constitutional dispute and reinvention: the revolutionaries who catalyzed the Declaration of Independence and first state constitutions; the antifederalists and other critics who influenced the national Constitution and Bill of Rights; the abolitionists who paved the way for the Reconstruction Amendments; and the suffragists whose battles provoked the Nineteenth Amendment.

Beaumont argues that these groups should be recognized as civic founders-and co-founders-of the U.S. Constitution. Through newspaper broadsides, petitions, convention speeches, sermons, boycotts, and protests, these men and women worked to redefine fundamental law. Challenging established authority, they advocated vital new understandings of popular self-governance, rights, liberties, and citizenship. Indeed, though their roles are often overlooked in contemporary debates, these civic reformers not only shaped the legal text and terms of modern constitutionalism, but reconstructed the meaning of civic membership, in terms of both norms and fundamental commitments.

The Civic Constitution is a sweeping work of reinterpretation that speaks to students of American politics, history, and law. This richly documented study offers a keener understanding of the Constitution and a more profound perception of civic identity and democracy itself.

The Civic Constitution

Civic Visions and Struggles in the Path toward Constitutional Democracy

Elizabeth Beaumont

Introduction
1 : The Civic Constitution
Part One: Revisiting the 18th Century Founding
2 : Making Liberty Popular
Revolutionaries' "Common Sense" Popular Constitutionalism and New State Republics
3 : The Unfinished Constitution
Quarrels and Claims of "We, the People" in Constitutional Creation and Ratification
Part Two: Civic Struggles to Refound "We, the People" and the Constitution
4 : Pursuing Equality
Abolitionists' Anti-slavery Constitutionalism and Reconstruction
5 : Claiming Justice
Suffragists' Gender Justice Constitutionalism and Transformation
6 : The Complexities of a Civic Founders' Constitution

The Civic Constitution

Civic Visions and Struggles in the Path toward Constitutional Democracy

Elizabeth Beaumont

Author Information

Elizabeth Beaumont, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota

Elizabeth Beaumont is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, where she focuses on democracy, citizenship, and constitutionalism. Previously, she was a Research Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In addition to her work on constitutionalism, she has co-authored books on civic education and political engagement.

The Civic Constitution

Civic Visions and Struggles in the Path toward Constitutional Democracy

Elizabeth Beaumont

Reviews and Awards

"One thing that makes 'The Civic Constitution' particularly exciting is the achievement of studying this extremely diffuse form of popular constitutionalism...Beaumont does an impressive job, weaving together newspaper articles, political pamphlets, popular songs, sermons, and petitions to identify the contents of civic constitutionalism. The result makes for a convincing argument, and an exciting read." " - Political Science Quarterly

"[A]n excellent resource, providing a worthwhile and well-reasoned perspective contributing to a fuller understanding of American constitutionalism. A valuable addition to the discourse on popular constitutionalism, this title should occupy a place in every academic law library." - Heather N. Joy, Research/Instruction Librarian, Dale E. Fowler School of Law, Chapman University, Law Library Journal "

"One thing that makes 'The Civic Constitution' particularly exciting is the achievement of studying this extremely diffuse form of popular constitutionalism...Beaumont does an impressive job, weaving together newspaper articles, political pamphlets, popular songs, sermons, and petitions to identify the contents of civic constitutionalism. The result makes for a convincing argument, and an exciting read." " - Political Science Quarterly

"[A]n excellent resource, providing a worthwhile and well-reasoned perspective contributing to a fuller understanding of American constitutionalism. A valuable addition to the discourse on popular constitutionalism, this title should occupy a place in every academic law library." - Heather N. Joy, Research/Instruction Librarian, Dale E. Fowler School of Law, Chapman University, Law Library Journal "