James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights
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Description
Today we hold the Constitution in such high regard that we can hardly imagine how hotly contested was its adoption. Now Richard Labunski offers a dramatic account of a time when the entire American experiment hung in the balance, only to be saved by the most unlikely of heroes--the diminutive and exceedingly shy James Madison.Here is a vividly written account of not one but several major political struggles which changed the course of American history. Labunski takes us inside the sweltering converted theater in Richmond, where for three grueling weeks, the soft-spoken Madison and the charismatic Patrick Henry fought over whether Virginia should ratify the Constitution. Madison won the day by a handful of votes, mollifying Anti-Federalist fears by promising to add a bill of rights to the Constitution. To do this, Madison would have to win a seat in the First Congress, which he did by a tiny margin, allowing him to attend the First Congress and sponsor the Bill of Rights.
Packed with colorful details about life in early America, this compelling and important narrative is the first serious book about Madison written in many years. It will return this under-appreciated patriot to his rightful place among the Founding Fathers and shed new light on a key turning point in our nation's history.
Reviews
"With Labunski's book we now have a very readable and reliable narrative of how Madison gave birth to the Bill of Rights."--Gordon S. Wood, Professor of History, Brown University
"Watch the wig powder fly as James Madison and Patrick Henry slug it out over the constitutional freedoms we take for granted today."--Atlantic Monthly
"A virtue of Labunski's account is the generous attention he gives to Anti-Federalist luminaries like Patrick Henry, George Mason, and Richard Henry Lee--figures too often overlooked in our reverential regard for the founding. For those used to thinking of the Bill of Rights as carved in stone, it is also instructive to see just how large a role accident played in its creation."--Gary Rosen, The New York Times Book Review
"This engaging study views the Bill of Rights as the crowning achievement of America's constitutional architect... An interesting story, full of sonorous oratory and colorful details of 18th-century politicking. The result is a lively look at the rickety early republic and Madison's great balancing act."--Publishers Weekly
"Carefully and lucidly examines how Madison and his political supporters and opponents (mostly Anti-Federalists) shaped the initial parameters of the Constitution and then further expressed their constitutional philosophies in the amendments that followed... A highly recommended analysis that will be useful for public and academic libraries."--Library Journal (starred review)
About the Author(s)
Richard Labunski is a professor in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky. The author of four other books, he previously taught at the University of Washington and Penn State and worked for ten years in radio and television news.
