The Framers' Coup

The Making of the United States Constitution

Michael J. Klarman

Concise narrative of the Constitution's founding written in lively and accessible prose
Offers a comprehensive account of all sides of the debate during the Constitution's founding

The Framers' Coup

The Making of the United States Constitution

Michael J. Klarman

Description

Most Americans revere their Constitution yet know relatively little about its origins. Indeed, until now, nobody has written a comprehensive history of the Constitution's making. Based on prodigious research and told largely through participants' voices, Michael J. Klarman's The Framers' Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution fills that void.

Klarman's narrative features colorful characters and riveting stories, such as the rebellion by debtor farmers in Massachusetts that contributed enormously to the Constitution's creation, George Washington's agonized deliberations over whether to attend the Philadelphia convention, Patrick Henry's demagogic efforts to defeat ratification in Virginia, and the political machinations of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay at the New York ratifying convention that produced an improbable victory for ratification.

Three principal themes characterize Klarman's narrative. The first is contingency. The Philadelphia convention almost did not take place; once assembled, it nearly failed; and the Constitution it produced almost went unratified. Second, the Constitution was more a product of ordinary political struggle than of disinterested political philosophizing. Creditors and debtors, city dwellers and backcountry farmers, northerners and southerners-all had competing interests and fought for them with the weapons of ordinary politics, such as the disparaging of adversaries' motives, character assassination, and even threats of violence. Finally, the Framers wrote a Constitution very different from what most Americans anticipated or wanted. Many of its features were designed to insulate the national government from populist political influence. Why was the Philadelphia convention so unrepresentative of national opinion, and how did the Framers convince ordinary Americans to approve a scheme that drastically reduced their political influence? For anyone interested in a comprehensive, lively, and provocative account of the making of the American Constitution, this is the ideal volume.

The Framers' Coup

The Making of the United States Constitution

Michael J. Klarman

Introduction
Chapter 1: Flaws in the Articles of Confederation
Lack of a Taxing Power
Lack of a Commerce Power
Failed Efforts at Amendment
Other Flaws in the Articles
Sectional Conflict
Chapter 2: Economic Turmoil in the States and the Road to Philadelphia
Paper Money and Debtor Relief Legislation
Shays's Rebellion
The Annapolis Convention
To the Philadelphia Convention
Chapter 3: The Constitutional Convention
Madison's Agenda
The Virginia Plan
Expanding the Powers of the National Government
Establishing the Supremacy of the National Government
The National Legislature
Apportioning Representation in the National Legislature
Other Features of the Senate
The Executive Branch
Interpreting the Convention
Chapter 4: Slavery and the Constitutional Constitution
Background
How To Count Slaves in Apportioning National Political Power
Slavery and Economic Issues
Other Issues Involving Slavery
Slavery and Ratification
Chapter 5: Critics of the Constitution: The Antifederalists
Preliminaries
The Legitimacy of the Constitution
Was Fundamental Reform Necessary?
Consolidation
The Taxing Power
Military Powers
The Commerce Power and the Treaty-Making Power
Other Congressional Powers
The Federal Judiciary
The House of Representatives
The Senate
The President
Checks and Balances
Article I, Section 10
Actual Motivations
Chapter 6: The Ratifying Contest
The Nature of the Debate
The Federalists' Advantages in the Ratifying Contest
First Steps Toward Ratification
Running Into Snags in New England
Maryland and South Carolina
Virginia
New York
North Carolina and Rhode Island
The Federalists' Great Fears: Conditional Ratification and a Second Convention
Interpreting Ratification
Chapter 7: The Bill of Rights
The Arguments Pro and Con
Madison's Election to Congress
Madison and the Bill of Rights in Congress
Madison's Amendments
Interpreting the Enactment of the Bill of Rights
Chapter 8: Conclusion
Contingency
Interests
Hostility Toward Democracy
Ratification as Ordinary Politics
Excluding Intermediate Alternatives
The Decline of Legitimacy Objections
How the Constitution Did and Did Not Adapt to Democracy
From the Perspective of Today

The Framers' Coup

The Making of the United States Constitution

Michael J. Klarman

Author Information

Michael J. Klarman, Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Michael J. Klarman is Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and author of the Bancroft Prize-winning From Jim Crow to Civil Rights (OUP).

The Framers' Coup

The Making of the United States Constitution

Michael J. Klarman

Reviews and Awards

"After more than two centuries, it seemed unlikely that anything new could be said about the drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution. Michael Klarman has managed to do so. He has given us the most thorough account in print of the men and issues that shaped American political culture. It would be conforting to think that the people who wave copies of the Constitution at election rallies would actually read Klarman's provocative book." - T. H. Breen, Times Literary Supplement

"Klarman...offers a pragmatic, even quotidian, explanation, taking the reader through the most minute historical detail and presenting quite literally everything anyone interested in the coming-to-be of the US Constitution would possibly want: theory, philosophy, history, theology, religion, politics, economics-and just plain random chance. And he weaves it all together with a master storyteller's ear for just the right phrase and just the right dramatic line. This reviewer is amazed by what the author has accomplished. This is not the first thing he's written, and yet it feels like something one would spend an entire academic career writing. The documentation is astonishing, and is alone worth the price of this (extremely large!) volume. This reviewer had a grand time reading this, and cannot wait to do it again. This is an amazing piece of work....Essential" - M. Berheide, CHOICE

"The central strength of this book is its deep familiarity with primary sources" - John R. Vile, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

The Framers' Coup

The Making of the United States Constitution

Michael J. Klarman

From Our Blog

The founding of the Electoral College

Every four years, the debate over the United States' continued use of its Electoral College reemerges. The following excerpt from Michael Klarman's The Framers' Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution discusses the political interests that shaped the Electoral College and American presidential politics as a whole.

Posted on November 4, 2016

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Which Founding Father are you? [quiz]

Posted on October 26, 2016

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Federalists and Anti-Federalists: the founders of America [infographic]

Between October 1787 and August 1788, a collection of 85 articles and essays were distributed by the Federalist movement. Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers highlighted the political divisions of their time.

Posted on October 18, 2016

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