---
product_id: 8519071
title: "Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788"
brand: "pauline maier"
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# Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788

**Brand:** pauline maier
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Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    A must read in order to understand the ratification process of the Constitution
  

*by G***6 on Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2013*

With the current political rhetoric continually referring to the creation of the United States and the government under the Constitution, attention needs to be paid to the ratification process. Since Constitutional originalists insist on purity in their concept of what the Constitution means, it is only right to study how the Constitution was created. To that end, the ratification process is just as important to that issue as the Constitutional Convention itself. The Convention was only one phase of the process of changing the government of the United States. Getting the Constitution ratified was the second part and as the documents of the past show us, far more difficult than the creation was. Pauline Maier, the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor of American History at MIT has written what is the most exhaustive examination of the ratification process to date. Utilizing records from the conventions and state legislatures, private letters from delegates, and newspaper accounts she has reconstructed what took place at the conventions and more importantly, why events occurred as they did. The result is a very detail oriented book that explores what the men who attended the conventions were thinking as well as the factions in the states that were for and against ratification. She makes it perfectly clear that ratification was not a slam dunk affair, but instead a very iffy proposition that came very close to failing. We know today that eleven of the thirteen states ratified the Constitution and commenced operating under it in March of 1789. What most people do not know is that this almost did not occur. Quite possibly a very different national history could have transpired, potentially one that created multiple nations instead of the America we know today. The Constitutional Convention was not employed to create a totally new government, and Congress could easily have decided not to send the proposed Constitution to the states for their legislatures to decide upon calling for a ratification convention or not. However, Congress did decide to send it on as they deemed it was legal to do so under the Articles of Confederation. Had they thought it was not legal, they certainly would not have done so. Once the states received the Constitution with its proposed national government, the legislatures had to decide whether they should call for a ratification convention or not. One state, Rhode Island, decided not to do so and its legislature voted against ratification. The rest of the states did call for conventions and set forth voting parameters and delegate qualifications. Maier covers this as the process was important and resulted in delegates being elected on the basis of being for or against ratification while in some states a great many were elected because they had not made up their minds and wanted to do so at the convention based on what they learned. Maier also reminds us repeatedly that this was the late 18th century where communications were only as fast as a horse could carry a rider. She also points out how unusual it is to modern readers that delegates in that era were elected to make up their minds later when they went through the information instead of staking out a position one way or the other in many cases. The contrast between that idea and today’s election process stands out. Maier covers each convention in the order they happened. While some conventions were smaller and a large majority predisposed for ratification, important questions were asked. Maier points out the basic arguments which were brought up in each convention as well as the defenses which countered them. She also addresses where deviations from the discussion took place and why. She does not invent an interpretation, but rather relies on solid work with primary source documents to construct her interpretation of the process. While some states had sparse records of their conventions for political reasons, Maier dug up additional sources which show there was a solid core of opposition in most states. She delves into the background of the prominent delegates who took part in the process, but she also brings many of the minor delegates to the forefront, men who could be considered as minor Founders. These delegates played a role albeit secondary to the main figures, but still important as in a few states the voting came down to several men who either switched their votes from their original positions or made up their minds on the last day. Maier’s book contends that while the Federalist Papers were written during this period, their impact on the various conventions was slight. She refers to it in explaining what James Madison, John Jay, or Alexander Hamilton thought of the Constitution, but does not use it as a means of explaining what everyone thought. In fact, she goes to great lengths to show that there were many different opinions on both sides of the argument and that even the men who signed the Constitution at the Convention had differing opinions on most of the articles in it. This is important because the concept of originalism is dependent upon the idea that the Founders were in agreement on what they were doing. The complete opposite is true. Often they agreed that something needed to be done in a certain way, but they disagreed on why it should be done. All in all, this is an outstanding book for any student of the Constitution to read. Readers will finish it with the realization that ratification almost failed. They will also emerge knowing that unlike today’s politicians who continually fight and work to impede the progress of legislation that has already been made law, the men of the ratification conventions worked to create a national government regardless of how they voted at the conventions. They worked together once the votes were finished in order to create a more perfect union. They disagreed on many issues, but once the voting ended they abided by the results and worked to make things better. Maier shows this result as well as how each person’s individual beliefs and personalities influenced each other. Many historians of this period remark on this as well. This book is highly recommended for students of this era as it is quite informative in explaining how the Constitution became the frame for the new national government and why certain events occurred as they did. Quite often the personalities of the people played important roles in those events. The example of James Madison barely being elected to the first House of Representatives is a good example of how personalities clashed over ratification. Also, the fact that George Washington favored ratification and the fact that practically every delegate assumed that Washington would serve as the nation’s first president is brought up in several chapters. In the end, that could have been one of the factors that changed a few delegate’s minds about ratifying the Constitution. As stated earlier, Maier’s depiction of the events brings them to life and makes the participants human. That in turn makes this book a great read and a worthwhile addition to any history scholar’s library.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    RATIFICATION:  THE PEOPLE DEBATE THE CONSTITUTION, 1787 - 1788
  

*by M***R on Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2011*

I am  a  retired  history instructor/librarian.  My field is U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction.  I  decided to  become  a  student  again  and  study the  American Revolution.  Because of vision restrictions, Ilisten.  I absolutely loved 
  
Washington: A Life







  
  
     by Ron Chernow and narrated by Scott Brick.  I wish Scott Brick had narrated this book.  Johnny Heller has won awards. But he is extremely difficult to follow, with starts, stops, and stumbles.  If there are errors in the quotations, forgive me.  Thank you.  Empty your Amazon shopping carts at once and purchase all of Maier's work in printed form.  How I hope  they will be re-issued at some point in CD format.There are three titles. In  order  of  original  publication  date they are:  (1)
  
From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition to Britain, 1765-1776







  
  
    .  (2)
  
Old Revolutionaries







  
  
    .(3)
  
American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence







  
  
    .  Maier feeds us the meat,  the fat, the  gristle  of  her  story.  With  the  final words  of  her  introduction,  she pulls  us  in  as  we  watch  andwait to  see what happens:  "It's  almost  Christmas  in  1786.  An  early  winter  ice storm  has  kept  aretired  general  from  collecting  his  mail from  the  near  by  town  of  Alexandria.  Now,  at  long  last,  he  is  ripping  open  a  letter  from  Richmond."  The retired  general  is  George  Washington.  The  writer  of  the  letter  is  Virginia's  governor,  Edmund Randolph.  He  is  urging  Washington to  attend the  proposed  constitutional  convention  in  Philadelphia  in  May, 1787.  Maier  notes that  Virigina was  largely responsible  for that  gathering,  and  Washington,  along  with  six  other  Virginians, answers his governor's plea.  He  does  not,  however,  attend  the  Richmond  ratification  convention  in  June,  1788.  His  voice  is  heard.  But  his  view  is  from  Mount  Vernon.  Based largely upon a 21-volume work,  THE DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION, published since  1976  by  the  Wisconsin  Historical Society, Pauline  Maier's  book  looks at  the  life  and  times  of the  new nation,  the  major players,  the  back-benchers,  who  meet in  the  state ratification conventions.  According  to  Maier  this  process  was  "the  first  national  elecvtion,  although  it  was  more  like  a  series  of  primaries than  a  presidential  elecvtion,  since  the votes  were cast,  not  on  a  single  day,  but successively  in  one  state  after  another."  The four major conventions  took  place  in  New  Y9ork,  Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts  and  Virginia, the  largest  state,  with  one -  fifth  of  the  territory  and  one  -  sixth  of  the  population.  As  in  some  other  states, a  so - called "short-hand man"  was employed  to  record the proceedings.  In  the  case  of  Virigina  and North  Carolina,  it was  lawyer,  David Robertson.  In Virginia  his  efforts  produced  three volumes  and  over 600 pages,  the  largest  state document.  In  North  Carolina  he  hired  a child  to help  him.  With  terrible  results.  And  North  Carolina  held  two  conventions!  Virginia's  delegates  also  employed  a chaplain  to  lead  them  in  daily  prayer,  the  only  state  to do so.  At times  I found  the  speeches  difficult  and  boring.  But  over  60  personalities  came  to  life.  Convention  cities  were  seen  in  amazing  detail.  Federal  celebrations  were  recorded  with  their  great  ringing  of  bells,  firing  of  guns,  raising of  hogsheads of  punch  as  toasts  were  proclaimed.There was  no  celebraton  in  Richmond,  however,  out  of  respect  for those  against  the  constitution.And,  Maier  carefully  notes  that  she  does  not  call them  "anti -  federalists,"  since  that  was  a federalist term.  Instead,  she  will say  the  "antis"or  "critics  of  the  constitution."  Virginia  had  hoped  to  become  the  critical  ninth  state to ratify.  She  was  the  tenth.  On  July 4, 1788,  Delaware became  number nine and  in  Wilmington  the  following  toast  was  shouted  out:"To  Farmer  washington.  May  he  like  a  second  Cincinatus  be  called  from  the  plough  to  rule  a great  people."  At the end  of  the  book,  the  author  includes  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  its  first  Ten  Ammendments  with the  statement  that  Georgia,  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  did not  ratify  those  amendments  until  1939!

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