ORIGINS OF THE BILL OF
RIGHTS
Leonard W. Levy
Americans resorted to arms in 1775 not to establish new liberties
but to defend old ones,
explains constitutional historian Leonard W. Levy in this
fascinating history of the origins of
the Bill of Rights. Unencumbered by a rigid class system, an
arbitrary government, or a single
established church squelching dissent, colonial Americans
understood freedom in a far more
comprehensive and liberal way than the English, Levy shows. He
offers here a panoramic view
of the liberties secured by the first ten amendments to the
Constitution--a penetrating analysis
of the background of the Bill of Rights the meanings of each
provision of the amendments.
In colonial America, political theory, law, and religion all
taught that government was limited. Yet
the framing and ratification of the Bill of Rights--in effect a
bill of restraints upon the national
government--was by no means assured. Levy illuminates the
behind-the-scenes maneuverings,
public rhetoric, and political motivations that led to each
provision. The omission of a bill of
rights in the original constitution presented the most serious
obstacle to its adoption, despite
Federalist claims that a bill of rights was unnecessary.
Opponents of the Constitution claimed
that inclusion of only some liberties--such as the right to
habeas corpus and freedom from ex
post facto laws--meant that all other liberties would be lost.
But, Levy demonstrates, the people
of the United States, aided by a persistent James Madison and by
traditions of freedom, had the
good sense to support both the Constitution and the Bill of
Rights.
A selection of the History Book Club
In this fascinating history of the origins of the Bill of Rights,
Pulitzer Prize-winning
historian Leonard W. Levy offers a panoramic view of the
liberties secured by the first
ten amendments to the Constitution. Levy illuminates the
behind-the-scenes
maneuverings, public rhetoric, and political motivations of James
Madison and others
who overcame fierce opposition to ensure the ratification of
these crucial liberties.
"Pulling together a lifetime of scholarship on liberty, Levy
offers a vivid account of
the various rights and freedoms that Americans care most deeply
about."--Akhil Reed
Amar, Yale Law School
"Levy' s own keen historical account illustrates how legal
concepts have changed over
time."--Publishers Weekly
"Levy has written a fascinating book. . . . I would highly
recommend this book to
anyone who is interested in the history of the Bill of Rights or
in the debates
surrounding the ratification of the Constitution. . . . An
excellent book."--Ruth Ann
Watry, Law and Politics Book Review
"[Levy' s] informative arguments in this important work
concern the nature and the
sources of the Bill of Rights within American democracy,
providing understanding for
both scholars and citizens."--Library Journal
Leonard W. Levy is Mellon Professor Emeritus at the Claremont
Graduate University
and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Southern Oregon State
College. He is the
author of thirty-six books, including Origins of the Fifth
Amendment, for which he
received a Pulitzer Prize.
Yale Contemporary Law Series
1999 Law
320 pp. 5 illus., 5 1/2 x 8 1/4
Paper ISBN 0-300-08909-5 $14.95
Cloth ISBN 0-300-07802-1 $35.00
This fascinating book is the first to investigate the everyday
lives of men in
prerevolutionary America. It looks at men and women in colonial
Massachusetts
and Connecticut, comparing their experiences in order to
understand the domestic
environment in which they spent most of their time.
Lisa Wilson tells wonderful stories of colonial New England men,
addressing the
challenges of youth, the responsibilities of adulthood, and the
trials of aging. She
finds that ideas about patriarchy or nineteenth-century notions
of separate spheres
for men and women fail to explain the world that these early New
England men
describe. Patriarchal power, although certainly real enough, was
tempered by
notions of obligation, duty, and affection. These men created
their identities in a
multigendered, domestic world. A man was defined by his
usefulness in this
domestic context; as part of an interdependent family, his goal
was service to
family and community, not the self-reliant independence of the
next century's
"self-made" man.
"Gracefully written, novel in its scope, this book argues
that the identity of colonial
men, no less than women, centered around the domestic
world."--Jane Kamensky,
Brandeis University
In this unique investigation of the everyday lives of men in
colonial Massachusetts
and Connecticut, Lisa Wilson brings to life the domestic world of
pre-Revolutionary New England. She finds that colonial men spent
most of their
time in a multigendered home environment and, unlike the
self-reliant men of the
next century, sought interdependence with family and community.
"Lisa Wilson's marvelous study will surprise and challenge
anyone interested in
the history of manhood in America. Wilson's acute analysis of
domestic
masculinity opens out on worlds in which men found independence
impossible
and interdependence imperative, worlds we will be exploring on
her inspiration for
years to come."--Michael Zuckerman, professor of history,
University of
Pennsylvania
"Wilson's clear, engaging writing is authoritative and free
of doctrinaire cant.
Recommended for all large academic and public
libraries."--Library Journal
"Gender Studies of early America, particularly of Colonial
New England . . . have
focused primarily on the experiences of women. Wilson provides a
much needed
complement to those studies, examining for the first time the
various roles that
defined a man's place in New England society, and more important,
what men felt
about those roles. . . . A refreshing and valuable perspective on
early American
society."--Choice
"Ye Heart of a Man is an important contribution to the
growing field of gender
studies. It is very appropriate for use in undergraduate classes
in American history
or gender/women's history."--Kathryn Abbott, Western
Kentucky University
Lisa Wilson is associate professor of history at Connecticut
College.
1999 American History
224 pp. 5 1/2 x 8 1/4
Cloth ISBN 0-300-07546-4 $30.00
$14.00 paper
Religion
1999 576 pp. 6 illus. 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Cloth ISBN 0?300?07840?4 $80.00
1999 Religion
384 pp. 5 1/2 x 8 1/4
cloth ISBN 0?300?07766?1 $40.00
paper ISBN 0?300?07768?8 $17.00
This volume gathers together for the first time all known
extant letters of Jonathan Edwards, along with his major personal
writings. For more than three decades George S. Claghorn has
scoured America, Great Britain, and Scotland for letters and
documents by and about Edwards. The result is an unparalleled
compendium of 235 letters?including 116 never before published or
never reprinted since Edwards's death--and four autobiographical
texts?Edwards' meditation "On Sarah Pierpont," his
future wife, and "Diary," "Resolutions," and
"Personal Narrative."
These letters and personal writings reveal the private man behind the treatises and sermons. They trace his relations with parents, siblings, college classmates, friends, and family, as well as with political, religious, and educational leaders of his day. New documents include Edwards' only known statement on slavery and letters on the Indian mission at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, that display Edwards' interest in native Americans and his efforts on their behalf. These writings show the human face of Edwards as he applied theological and philosophical insights to the events of his daily life. They provide an unprecedented resource for understanding the man, his times, and his personal connections.
George S. Claghorn is professor of philosophy at West Chester University.
March 1998
Editions
896 pp. 18 illus. 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
ISBN 0-300-07295-3 $80.00
When we think of New England, we envision village greens
surrounded by neat, white-framed houses; tall elms and church
spires; country stores; Yankee farmers; sailing ships; rocky
coastlines; brilliant autumn foliage. Despite the fact that there
is a New England of cities, factories, and an increasingly
diverse ethnic population, it is the Old New England that
Americans have always treasured, finding in it a kind of
"national memory bank." This beautiful book examines
images of Old New England created between 1865 and 1945,
demonstrating how these images encoded the values of age and
tradition to a nation facing complex cultural issues during the
period.
The book begins with an introduction by Dona Brown and
Stephen Nissenbaum that provides a historical background to the
era. Then William Truettner, Roger Stein, and Bruce Robertson
turn more directly to New England images and discuss a variety of
artistic efforts to historicize the past. They show that
paintings of the Revolutionary War, of harvest scenes, or of
genteel old New England towns served, for example, to
provide reassurance to urban dwellers after the Civil War, to
counteract the effects of modernism, and to encourage a sense of
community during the Depression. They also examine paintings of
coastal New England and favorite haunts of tourists and artists
such as Winslow Homer and Marsden Hartley. The many images of Old
New England, say the authors, represent shared cultural
beliefs-ways of seeing the present in terms of a mythical past.
This book is the catalogue for an exhibition at the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., from April 2 to August 22, 1999.
William H. Truettner is senior curator of paintings and
sculpture at the National Museum of American Art.
Roger Stein is professor of art history at the University of
Virginia.
Copublished with the National Museum of American Art,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Art/History
272 pp. 120 b/w + 90 color illus. 9 1/2 x 11
ISBN 0?300?07938?9 $45.00
The Works of Jonathan Edwards
Volume 15
Notes on Scripture
Edited by Stephen J. Stein
This is the first complete edition of the private biblical notebook that Jonathan Edwards compiled over a period of nearly thirty-five years. Edwards' "Notes on Scripture" confirms the centrality of the Bible in his thought and provides more balance to earlier depictions of his writings that emphasized the scientific and philosophical while overlooking the biblical dimension. In this critical edition the entries appear in the order in which Edwards wrote them, beginning with a short commentary on Genesis 2:10-14 that he penned in 1724, and ending with his last entry, Number 507 on the Book of Solomon's Song, written two years before his death.
This volume provides direct access to one of America's most influential religious thinkers. Edwards' entries range across the entire scriptural canon and reveal his creativity in the interpretation of particular biblical texts and his fascination with typology. The notebook also documents Edwards' engagement with the intellectual currents of his day, in particular his response to the challenge associated with the Enlightenment critique of biblical revelation. Stephen J. Stein's introduction situates Edwards as an exegete in the larger tradition of biblical commentary and in the intellectual world of eighteenth-century Western thought.
Stephen J. Stein is Chancellors' Professor of Religious Studies and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University. He is the author of The Shaker Experience in America and editor of Edwards' Apocalyptic Writings, both published by Yale University Press.
February 1998
Editions
640 pp. illus. 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
ISBN 0-300-07198-1 $80.00
April 1, 2001