Time: Thu Feb 06 07:31:18 1997
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Date: Thu, 06 Feb 1997 07:29:59 -0800
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: ST. JOHN THREE-VOLUME SET
<snip>
>You are there--with Thomas Jefferson, Sam Adams, Patrick Henry,
>James Madison, Ben Franklin, and George Washington
>
>CONSTITUTION JOURNAL
>A CHILD OF FORTUNE and
>FORGE OF UNION/ANVIL OF LIBERTY
>by Jeffrey St. John
>(reviewed by Jim Powell)
>
>This trilogy, the cap of the late Jeffrey St. John's
>distinguished journalism career, tells the epic story of how the
>Constitution was hammered out, how it was ratified, how the
>federal government got started and how the Bill of Rights was
>secured.
>
>Writing as if he were a reporter filing dispatches, St. John puts
>you right there amidst historic struggles and debates. You'll
>meet unforgettable characters and feel the tension as they fight
>for their most cherished ideas. You'll hear Patrick Henry's
>spellbinding oratory. You'll see George Washington outwit the
>wily Massachusetts governor John Hancock (once known as "the
>Prince of Smugglers").
>
>Thomas Jefferson was American Minister in Paris while the
>Constitution was drafted and ratified, but St. John tells how he
>made his moral influence felt through a succession of eloquent
>letters. Jefferson denounced the shameful secrecy of the
>Constitutional Convention, saying "I am sorry they began their
>deliberations by so abominable a precedent as that of tying up
>the tongues of their members." After Colonel Alexander Hamilton,
>the New York lawyer, expressed his admiration for monarchy,
>Jefferson scowled: "I am astonished at some people's considering
>a kingly Government as a refuge... Send them to Europe to see
>something of the trappings of monarchy, and I will undertake that
>every man shall go back thoroughly cured." And when Jefferson
>read a draft of the Constitution, he insisted that "a bill of
>rights is what the people are entitled to against every
>government on earth... "
>
>St. John shows how the Constitution surprised everybody. Voters
>had sent Convention delegates to revise the Articles of
>Confederation, but they trashed it. Although at least 30 of the
>55 delegates owned slaves, the Constitution called for abolishing
>the slave trade in 20 years. The thin, soft-spoken Virginian
>James Madison was hailed as the "architect of the Constitution,"
>but he made one proposal after another which the Convention
>rejected. For instance, he thought the executive branch ought to
>be combined with the judiciary, he was opposed to the idea of
>giving each state equal representation in the Senate, he didn't
>want the House originating money bills, and he objected to
>Congress having power to impeach the President.
>
>There are dramatic moments aplenty. For example, St. John
>reports how the Constitutional Convention was near collapse on
>July 3, 1787 when the ailing Benjamin Franklin suggested a
>breakthrough compromise. St. John tells how Patrick Henry and
>Virginia governor Edmund Randolph got into an argument which was
>nearly settled by gunfire. You'll see why New York came close to
>defeating the Constitution, despite Federalist electioneering and
>85 forceful essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John
>Jay, published as THE FEDERALIST PAPERS. You'll hear Sam Adams,
>revered leader of the American Revolution, demand a bill of
>rights, saying the "Constitution be never construed to authorize
>Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights
>of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who
>are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms..."
>
>St. John tells how Patrick Henry barred James Madison from the
>Senate and almost kept him from being elected to the House. St.
>John shows how the savvy Madison subsequently maneuvered the Bill
>of Rights--which he had long opposed--through the Federalist-
>dominated Congress that didn't want it.
>
>While St. John seems to believe the Constitution was a good
>thing, because the prior Confederation Congress couldn't deal
>with big debts resulting from the Revolutionary War, he
>acknowledges that it meant establishing a central government
>which could become a tyranny. Moreover, ratifying the
>Constitution involved treachery. Federalists controlled most of
>America's 95 newspapers, St. John says, and they were often able
>to suppress publication of Anti-Federalist views. St. John tells
>how Massachusetts Federalists "employed spying and threats,
>packed the spectator galleries with supporters, and concluded a
>political deal with the popular Governor of the State... " St.
>John provides a forthright account of Anti-Federalists like the
>Virginians Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee and George Mason
>(author of America's first bill of rights) who maintained public
>pressure for a federal Bill of Rights.
>
>St. John notes Washington was a reluctant candidate because,
>among other things, he was struggling to keep his debt-plagued
>plantation out of the hands of tax collectors. But once he won
>the election, Washington went on a whirlwind public relations
>tour, donning his Continental Army uniform, riding a white horse
>and staying overnight in taverns.
>
>As you can see, St. John presents a most entertaining and
>instructive story about tumultuous events which shaped America
>for more than two centuries. Historian Forrest McDonald says
>"St. John's contemporary-reporter technique works exceedingly
>well... marvelous."
>
>ST. JOHN THREE-VOLUME SET:
>AH7221 (hardcover) 974p.
>Publisher's list price: $67.85
>OUR PRICE ONLY $34.95
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Please send this to anyone who you think might be interested
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Paul Andrew Mitchell, B.A., M.S., email address: pmitch@primenet.com
Web site for the Supreme Law Firm is URL: http://www.supremelaw.com
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