The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government
Language: English
Published by Simon & Schuster, 2016
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books (was SecondSale)
AbeBooks seller since December 20, 2007
Condition: Used - Fair
£ 4.67
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Add to basketItem description from seller
This fascinating (Chicago Tribune), lively (The New York Times) history tells how the First Congress and the Washington administration created one of the most productive and far-reaching governments in American history--gracefully written.and well worth reading (The Wall Street Journal). The First Congress may have been the most important in American history because it established how our government would work. The Constitution was a broad set of principles that left undefined the machinery of government. Fortunately, far-sighted, brilliant, and determined men such as Washington, Madison, Adams, Hamilton, and Jefferson (and others less well known today) labored to create a functioning government. In The First Congress, award-winning author Fergus Bordewich brings to life the achievements of the First Congress: it debated and passed the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which we know as the Bill of Rights; admitted North Carolina and Rhode Island to the union when they belatedly ratified the Constitution, then admitted two new states, Kentucky and Vermont, establishing the procedure for admitting new states on equal terms with the original thirteen; chose the site of the national capital, a new city to be built on the Potomac; created a national bank to handle the infant republic's finances; created the first cabinet positions and the federal court system; and many other achievements. But it avoided the subject of slavery, which was too contentious to resolve. The First Congress takes us back to the days when the future of our country was by no means assured and makes an intricate story clear and fascinating (The Washington Post).…
Seller Inventory # CIN1451691939A
- Title
- The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government
- Author
- Fergus M Bordewich
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Publication year
- 2016
- Condition
- Fair
- Binding
- Hardback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1451691939
- ISBN 13
- 9781451691931
The First Congress was the most important in US history, says prizewinning author and historian Fergus Bordewich, because it established how our government would actually function. Had it failed—as many at the time feared it would—it’s possible that the United States as we know it would not exist today.
The Constitution was a broad set of principles. It was left to the members of the First Congress and President George Washington to create the machinery that would make the government work. Fortunately, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and others less well known today, rose to the occasion. During two years of often fierce political struggle, they passed the first ten amendments to the Constitution; they resolved bitter regional rivalries to choose the site of the new national capital; they set in place the procedure for admitting new states to the union; and much more. But the First Congress also confronted some issues that remain to this day: the conflict between states’ rights and the powers of national government; the proper balance between legislative and executive power; the respective roles of the federal and state judiciaries; and funding the central government. Other issues, such as slavery, would fester for decades before being resolved.
The First Congress tells the dramatic story of the two remarkable years when Washington, Madison, and their dedicated colleagues struggled to successfully create our government, an achievement that has lasted to the present day.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
[A] highly readable and sweeping account of the First Federal Congress. --Kenneth R. Bowling, co-editor, First Federal Congress Project; Adjunct Professor of History, George Washington University; and author of Peter Charles L'Enfant"
Bordewich brings back to life the practical, impatient, and tired politicians who transformed the parchment of the US Constitution into the flesh and blood of a national government. . . . Anyone curious about the origins of today s much-maligned national legislature will marvel at this hair-raising story of stunning political creativity. --Richard A. Baker, US Senate Historian Emeritus and co-author of The American Senate: An Insider s History"
Bordewich s account is well worth reading and brings to life the First Congress and its members. Gracefully written. . . . Bordewich provides a balanced assessment of the many achievements of the First Congress, while not overlooking its shortcomings. --Mark G. Spencer "The Wall Street Journal ""
Bordewich s worthy contribution to popular history shows us how a combination of high-minded determination, vote-trading and back-room deals created muscular and enduring institutions that could adapt and thrive for more than 200 years. --Frank Davies "The Miami Herald ""
"With his highly informative "The First Congress, " historian Fergus M. Bordewich joins the ranks of familiar authors like Joseph Ellis, David McCullough, Fred Kaplan and others, whose biographies and studies of early American history have captivated so many. . . . Bordewich combines fascinating biography with a detailed account of the three sessions of Congress that ran from 1789-1791 and established the institutions and protocols that we follow today."--Tony Lewis "The Providence Journal "
Finally, a popular and finely paced account of the Congress that could have easily unmade the new American republic. --Allen Guelzo "The Washington Monthly ""
Fergus M. Bordewich has transformed the recent multivolumecollection of sources on the First Federal Congress into a livelynarrative. . . . The First Congress is a perfect example of what a verygood writer can do with these raw materials. --Carol Berkin "The New York Times Book Review ""
Fergus Bordewich paints a compelling portrait of the first, critical steps of the American republic, a perilous time when Congress a body that has proved naturally contentious and short-sighted had to be wise, and it was. The First Congress deftly blends many voices and stories into an elegant and gripping tale of a triumph of self-government. --David O. Stewart, author of Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America and The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution"
The story of how these flawed but brilliant men managed to put the theory of the Constitution into actual practice and create a functioning government is the subject of Fergus M. Bordewich's fascinating The First Congress."--Tom Moran "The Chicago Tribune ""
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