| International Standard Book Number |
9781250851093 (ebook)
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| International Standard Book Number |
9781250851079 (hardcover)
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| International Standard Book Number |
1250851076 (hardcover)
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| Dewey Decimal Classification Number |
342.7302
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| Personal Name |
Wegman, Jesse, author.
|
| Title Statement |
The lost founder : James Wilson and the forgotten fight for a people's constitution / Jesse Wegman.
|
| Varying Form of Title |
James Wilson and the forgotten fight for a people's constitution
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| Varying Form of Title |
James Wilson & the forgotten fight for a people's constitution
|
| Edition Statement |
First edition.
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| Production, Publication, Distribution, Manufacture, and Copyright Notice |
New York : Celadon Books, 2026.
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| Physical Description |
x, 369 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps ; 25 cm
|
| Content Type |
text txt rdacontent
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| Media Type |
unmediated n rdamedia
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| Carrier Type |
volume nc rdacarrier
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| Bibliography, Etc. Note |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 347-356) and index.
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| Formatted Contents Note |
A Scottish childhood -- New life in America -- The "Considerations" essay -- The Declaration -- The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 -- The Fort Wilson Riot -- Prosperity, speculation, and crisis -- Philadelphia 1787 -- The real work begins -- The signing -- Slavery and the three-fifths clause -- The speech in the State House yard -- Ratification -- Aftermath -- The Supreme Court -- The law lectures -- The walls close in -- New love and escape from Philadelphia -- The tavern hideout.
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| Summary, Etc. |
"New York Times journalist Jesse Wegman tells the story of James Wilson, a Founding Father whose bold vision shaped American democracy but whose legacy was lost to scandal. As a young lawyer, James Wilson made a celebrated case for American independence in an essay that inspired the famous words "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." He went on to write the first draft of the Constitution and, along with the more famous James Madison, played perhaps the essential role in its ultimate creation. Wilson believed that in a democracy, the people were the ultimate source of all power. He argued successfully for a strong central government and a powerful presidency and unsuccessfully for a president elected by popular vote and a Senate apportioned by population. He was recognized for his ideas and leadership. But only a decade after the Constitution was ratified, he died of malaria in the back room of a North Carolina tavern while hiding from his creditors. Instead of going down as one of the nation's great political thinkers, Wilson was virtually written out of history. But in The Lost Founder, Wegman brings to life the most prescient of the earliest patriots and makes a convincing argument that scandal should not diminish the life and relevance of a brilliant, complicated man whose vision for his country could not be more relevant today"-- Provided by publisher.
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| Subject-Personal Name |
Wilson, James, 1742-1798
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| Subject |
Pennsylvania. Constitutional Convention (1776)
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Constitutional history United States.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Lawyers United States.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Founding Fathers of the United States.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Democracy History. United States
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
History/United States - Revolutionary Period (1775-1800) bisacsh
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Biography & Autobiography/Historical. bisacsh
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Political Science/Constitutions. bisacsh
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| Index Term-Genre/Form |
Biographies. lcgft
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| Location |
342.73 WEG 31662001854520
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