Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. vi, 253 pages; 24 cm.

Summary

1. "Strikingly few Americans know who wrote their nation's basic political charter. Even fewer know that he was a peg-legged ladies' man with a wicked sense of humor, a staunch opponent of slavery, and an unabashed elitist. Gouverneur Morris has been called "the most colorful man in North America" at the time of the founding, and he was a dominant figure at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. In fact, he spoke more often, proposed more motions, and had more motions adopted than any other delegate. He also put the Constitution into its final form, choosing the arrangement and much of the wording of its provisions, not to mention composing the famous preamble ("We the people of the United States . . .") nearly from scratch. The Constitution's Penman is the first book to explore the constitutional vision of this fascinating and neglected figure"--

Series statement

1. American political thought

Uniform title

1. American political thought.

Subject

1. Morris, Gouverneur, 1752-1816
2. United States. Constitutional Convention (1787)
3. United States. Constitutional Convention
4. Constitutional Convention (United States : 1787)
5. 1783-1789
6. Statesmen > United States > Biography
7. Legislators > New York (State) > Biography
8. Founding Fathers of the United States > Biography
9. Founding Fathers of the United States
10. Legislators
11. Politics and government
12. Statesmen
13. United States > Politics and government > 1783-1789
14. New York (State)
15. United States

Genre/Form

1. Biographies.

Contents

1. Machine generated contents note: 1. The Penman's Story: A Brief Biography -- 2. A Most Splendid Part: Morris at the Convention -- 3. A Representative of America: Federalism -- 4. Checking America's Aristocracy: The Senate -- 5. Property and the People's Branch: The House of Representatives -- 6. A Reluctant Architect of the Electoral College: Presidential Selection -- 7. An Office Fit for Washington: The Presidency -- 8. That Fortress of the Constitution: The Judiciary -- 9. The Curse of Heaven: Slavery -- 10. A Declaration of Motives: The Preamble.

Call number

1. JFE 23-1879

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Author

1. Rasmussen, Dennis C. (Dennis Carl), 1978- author.

Title

1. The Constitution's penman : Gouverneur Morris and the creation of America's basic charter / Dennis C. Rasmussen.

Publisher

1. Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2023]

Type of content

1. text

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. volume

Series

1. American political thought
2. American political thought.

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological term

1. 1783-1789

Other form:

1. Online version: Rasmussen, Dennis C. Constitution's penman Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2023] 9780700634156 (DLC) 2022030117

LCCN

1. 2022030116

Other standard identifier

1. 40031658078

ISBN

1. 9780700634149 hardcover
2. 0700634142 hardcover
3. 9780700634156 electronic book

Research call number

1. JFE 23-1879