3.8 - Historians on the U.S. Constitution

“The members of the Philadelphia convention which drafted the Constitution were, with a few exceptions, immediately, directly, and personally interested in, and derived economic advantages from, the establishment of the new system. The Constitution was essentially an economic document based upon the concept that the fundamental private rights of property are [superior] to government and morally beyond the reach of popular majorities.”

Charles Beard, historian, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, 1913

“Anxious and uncertain, the convention delegates . . . brought to bear their political experience, their sensitivities to legal loopholes, their commitment to representative government, and they focused their energies and attentions on resolving existing conflicts, correcting existing errors, and protecting . . . against a descent into tyranny. When they were done, they submitted their handiwork to the citizens for ratification rather than attempting to impose it by assassination or military force. In this way, they invited their neighbors to share responsibility for the fate of their experiment in representative government.”

Carol Berkin, historian, A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution, 2002