I. The Constitutional Convention: The Setting, the Players, and the Outcome 1
The Origins of the Constitution 3
Society and Republicanism: America in 1787 19
The Philadelphia Convention and the Development of American Government: From the Virginia Plan to the Constitution 33
"Outcast" Rhode Island—The Absent State 49
Who Was Who in the Constitutional Convention: A Pictorial Essay of Its Leading Figures 55
Thomas Jefferson and the Constitution 65
II. Public Reception of the Constitution 77
The Federalist 79
The Constitutional Thought of the Anti-Federalists 93
The Constitution as Myth and Symbol 105
III. Ratification and the Inauguration of the Government 121
"Our Successors Will Have an Easier Task": The First Congress under the Constitution, 1789-1791 123
The Birth of the Federal Court System 137
The "Great Departments": The Origin of the Federal Government's Executive Branch 149
IV. Bill of Rights, Constitutional Adaptation, and the Future of the Constitution 163
James Madison and the Bill of Rights 165
The Nationalization of the Bill of Rights: An Overview 179
The Bill of Rights: Protector of Minorities and Dissenters 191
Religion and the Constitution 203
Race and the Constitution: The Case of the Japanese-American Internment 217
The Supreme Court and the Evolution of Women's Rights 233
Call a Second Convention? 247
The Constitution of the United States 259
Bicentennial Presentations 281
Bibliography 293
Illustration Acknowledgments 299
Index 301