The Founding Fathers

A completely newly researched story of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and of the lives of the most prominent framers of the Constitution: Oliver Ellsworth, Benjamin Franklin, Nathaniel Gotham, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Mason, Gouverneur Morris, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Edmund Randolph, John Rutledge, Roger Sherman, George Washington, and James Wilson. Among items discussed are the main compromises of the Convention, the battle over slavery and states’ rights, sectional and economic disputes and alliances, and the reason for the great strength of the Constitution as a bulwark of American democracy. Stressed are the greatest prose stylists, the leading parliamentarians, the political theorists and strategists, and those most zealous in preserving individual rights and liberties. The Indian influence upon American government is noted, as is the extent to which the Constitution has been used as model by other nations seeking constitutional government. At a time when the intent of the framers is of crucial importance, this book supplies that information.

A former president of Eastern New Mexico University, the late Charles W. Meister was the author of several McFarland books.