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Libertys Blueprint: How Madison and Hamilton Wrote The Federalist, Defined the Constitution, and Made Democracy Safe for the World

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Michael Meyerson is Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore, and teaches the Federalist Papers as part of his Constitutional Law class. He has put his academic training to excellent use.

Some legal scholars focus on minutia. Fortunately for us, Professor Meyerson is a skilled popular writer, with a true gift for synthesizing and explaining first principles. Using the best of modern scholarship, he provides us with a clear and fresh overview of the main arguments in the Federalist Papers.

Especially helpful is Professor Meyerson's frequent reference to the Anti-Federalist writings. Ignoring them is like hearing only one side of a phone conversation. By reconstructing both sides of the debate, Meyerson creates a dynamic work that transports us back to that turbulent time, when the public's approval of the new Constitution was in the balance.

I was fascinated by Professor Meyerson's clear explanation of the checks and balances in the Constitution, designed to avoid concentrations of power, which are the principal risk with a strong government, due to the defects in human nature.

Perhaps the main weakness in the book is its effort to comment on current political debates. Here, if I'm not mistaken, Professor Meyerson seems a bit too eager to criticize various Republican and conservative ideas. Perhaps he thinks that Democracts have ceded the Federalist Papers to the Republicans in recent years, and he is seeking to redress the balance. In my view, this weakens the work by interjecting a partisan perspective in an otherwise excellent and balanced historical analysis.

Liberty's Blueprint: How Madison and Hamilton Wrote the Federalist Papers, Defined the Constitution and Made Democracy Safe for the World, fittingly describes the premise of the book in so little words. Michael I. Meyerson observes The Federalist or Federalist Papers, the essays, which Alexander Hamilton and James Madison composed in order to convince the framers of the US Constitution that one of the most important documents in American history was worth ratifying. Meyerson puts a human face to the story as well as examines this historic moment in terms of history and law. In addition, he clarifies the papers' meaning as well as misinterpretations that have arisen since the completion of the papers in 1788.

But in order to understand its purpose, Meyerson has had to revisit the history of the framers of The Federalist essays, which helped shape freedom and democracy in the US. However, their story is not as romanticized as history books have painted it out to be, but rather it was a series of events that consisted of a blend of squabbles and commiseration that involved rumors of Hamilton's precipitous idea of moving the capital from Philadelphia to New York, which turned out to be congressional President Elias Boudinot's political influence that later had Hamilton confiding with Madison to clear his name from the matter; this event would strengthen their collaboration but also eventually be one of the factors, which ended their friendship.

Despite Hamilton and Madison's demise, they have left a lasting legacy that is relevant today. Meyerson suggests that Madison and Hamilton wanted to provide an understanding of the how laws have an enormous effect on the entire populace be it through a state or national level. But as a law scholar, he ponders with the past and comments on current events through a 21st century lens that many historians would avoid, such as with the War in Iraq and environmental issues. However, he genuinely shows a greater emphasis and meaning to the Federalist Papers and the US Constitution as living documents that help others to understand and to preserve the rights of many people.

I have been searching for a while some book on THE FEDERALIST which were recent and not a difficult reading, so when I found this work combing history and analysis I decided it to give it a chance, in despite of not finding previous comments on it.

The description on the synopsis provided by the "Book reviews" is fairly accurate. Therefore, I will only point out that this work,combining the personal and the constitutional, law and history, takes a close look at the Federalist Papers,which are essays written by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton in favor of ratifying the Constitution. The book is basically divided in two parts. Part I explains how Hamilton (combustible and heedless) and Madison (priggish and intellectual) became friends, came to write THE FEDERALIST together (John Jay's contribution is briefly mentioned), and afterwards became political enemies. Part II provides reasons to read, understand and appreciate the influence of THE FEDERALIST, the author's succinct and readable interpretation of it and his defense of THE FEDERALIST's critical importance for understanding many of present America's divisive political debates.

Just in case some people may refrain from this work lest it will be scholarly dull, let me tell you that is not the case at all. I could not put it down it and read it in less than a week's time (content: 5 starts; pleasure of Part I: 5; pleasure of Part II: 3 to 4). So I highly recommend it.

All that (and much more that I do not mention in this summary) is developed in 297 pages (footnotes included), the book being divided in the following way: Preface. /Introduction: "A well-established historical controversy": solving the mystery of who wrote THE FEDERALIST //Part I: Writing THE FEDERALIST. Chapter 1: "Testifying the Esteem & Regard": An Unlikely Friendship/ Chapter 2:"To cement the union": sounding the call for a convention/ Chapter 3: "Better than nothing": the drafting of the Constitution/ Chapter 4: "Establishing good government from reflection and choice": Producing THE FEDERALIST/Chapter 5: "The head of a faction decidedly hostile to me": The disintegration of a relationship. //Part II: Reading THE FEDERALIST. Chapter 6:"The most valuable disquisition of government": Why and how to read THE FEDERALIST/Chapter 7: "The diseases most incident to republican government": Appreciating FEDERALIST/Chapter 8: "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition": Lessons on the separation of powers/Chapter 9: "A double security": Lessons on federalism/Chapter 10: "The Greatest of all reflections on human nature": Lasting lessons/Acknowledgments, Works frequently cited, Noteworthy editions of THE FEDERALIST, Notes on the Title, Notes, Bibliography, Index.

Other books on the USA I would also recommend are the following:

A) Dealing with constitutional and political ideas:

1) "America's Constitution: A Biography" by Akhil Reed Amar;

2) Constitutional History of the American Revolution [ABRIDGED]" by John Philip Reid; and

3) "Lincoln's Constitution" by Daniel A. Farber.

B) Other books chosen with an approach historically impressionistic:

4) "The Death Penalty", by Stuart Banner;

5) "The Churching Of America, 1776-2005: Winners And Losers In Our Religious Economy" by Roger Finke and Rodney Stark;

6) "American Colonies. The settling of North America", by Alan Taylor;and

7) "Battle cry of freedom. The Civil War Era" by James M. McPherson.

There are much better books out there on Madison, Hamilton and the entire process that produced to this Great Nation.

If you are a student, or recently graduated, then this book will be right up your alley.

For those of us that are a "bit" older, it is not very well written nor is it easy to read and follow. Much of it feels disjointed.

As a student of those times I have read a lot of books from numerous authors about this glorious time in American History. While I can not fault the facts presented in this book, it is not an easy read.

In a nice blend of history, biography, and legal analysis, law professor Meyerson examines the dynamic, though short-lived, friendship and literary collaboration between two of the Constitutional Convention's greatest minds. The Federalist is considered America's greatest work of political philosophy, although it was a polemical work that presented only one side in New York's intense ratification debate of 1788 ("Brutus" was the brilliant but now-forgotten champion of the anti-Federalists). Madison, who later became principal author of the Bill of Rights, ironically thought the first Amendments of little importance, but essential for placating the anti-Federalists; one of the most frequent complaints of the Constitution's opponents was that the charter had no bill of rights. While making the case that the Federalist Papers are important as a guide to the Constitution, Meyerson shows that they are not holy writ, not an infallible guide to the intent of the Founders, and at times not even internally consistent. Still, they are the best record we have of what the Founders may have meant by the sometimes elusive language of the nation's charter. On balance, Meyerson has produced a thoughtful and absorbing guide to the Papers and the great thinkers and turbulent times that produced them.

As we contemplate the dawn of the computer age, the rivalries between the mainstream media and bloggers, the rise of the security state and telecommuting, perhaps a case could be made that the American Revolution occurred in an antique and irrelevant land.
Not so, not so! Meyerson's Blueprint is very timely. While his title is a clever play on Coolidges "Make the World Safe for Democracy"and others have accused Blueprint of attempting to `pound modern square pegs into olden round holes' I saw his approach as quite cohesive in this regard. Many of the elements that percolated through society at the time of the American Revolution challenge us now--Only the cast of characters has changed.
Indeed, so evocative were Blueprint's observations of the era, it might be interesting to read it in an historical setting, such as Independence Hall in Philadelphia or on the grounds at Monticello, Jefferson's home. The portraits of Hamilton and Madison were well drawn. Liberty's Blueprint gives many details of the times, the issues, the reasons why The Federalist were written, as well as the dynamics between its authors.
Such details as these are presented:
The original purpose to which the Federalists were circulated--to assist in the passage of the US Constitution of 1787 (and the opposition there-to!).
For instance, Patrick Henry's disdain for the thing (a new tyranny).
The authors desire for anonymity (!)
Madison's exhaustive study of democracies ancient and modern-(confederations don't work as without central authority, petty rivalries rue the day).
All these are telling details.
While the book stands up well on its own, it has piqued my interest for further study. I'm now off to get hold of a bound copy of The Federalist Papers.

During the summer of 1787, Alexander Hamilton began a series of essays designed to convince reluctant voters in New York to ratify the newly-proposed United States Constitution. He enlisted the aid of John Jay, who soon became ill and made limited contributions to the series. In the autumn of 1787, Hamilton turned to his old friend, James Madison of Virginia, who was serving in Congress in New York City at the time. Madison agreed to collaborate on the project. The result was the collection of essays known as The Federalist Papers. Although conceived with a specific temporal goal in mind -- the ratification of the Constitution -- The Federalist Papers has become, together with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution itself, a revered statement of the American political experiement. The work remains studied for its defense and explanation of American constitutionalism and for its insights into government and human nature. It has deservedly become a timeless classic.

In "Liberty's Blueprint" (2008), Michael Meyerson gives a readable overview of The Federalist Papers, including its authors, creation, and content. Myerson is a Professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law who uses The Federalist Papers to teach courses in Constitutional Law. His students are fortunate to have him as a guide.

"Liberty's Blueprint" is intended for the lay reader. The sections of the book in which Myerson discusses The Federalist Papers and its use or misuse in current judicial decisionmaking seem to me to a sidetrack to the main purpose of the study. In his Preface, Myerson explains that he had several goals in writing the book. The first goal was to present the most important teachings of The Federalist Papers to a modern audience and to show how "wise and educated men" were able to engage in "rational political debate" in supporting or in criticizing the proposed Federal constitution. There is a deep sense in Myerson's book of the importance of both wisdom and rationality in conducting political affairs.

A second goal of Myerson's study was to use The Federalist Papers to show how and when the views of the Framers should be used in constitutional interpretation. He engages in discussions of "originalist" and "non-originalist" theories of Constitutional interpretation to arrive at a "partial originalist" position in which the Constitution might be interpreted in an originalist manner with The Federalist Papers as a guide while the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment might require a different manner of interpretation. His treatment of interpretive theory is somewhat out of place in this book and takes away from his study of The Federalist Papers itself.

Myerson's third goal in his book was to "explore the lives of the authors of The Federalist and shed light on the unusual personal bond between Madison and Hamilton." Myerson here succeeds beautifully. The first half of his book is a twin biography of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison and how they came to cooperate in producing their masterwork of political thought. The two Founders were much unlike. Hamilton was born out of wedlock in the Carribean and rose through his own efforts to become the confidant of George Washington and a power of the commercial interests of the new Nation. He was also a notorious womanizer. James Madison was quiet and diminutive but to the manor born as part of the Virginia aristocracy. Madison was scholarly and intellectual but also a shrewd partisan politician. The two men had become friends well before the Constitutional Convention. They both were somewhat disappointed with the Constitution that resulted but put aside their disagreements with the final product to work agressively for its ratification. Following the ratification of the Constitution and under the administration of President Washington, Hamilton and Madison's personal friendship disintegrated as the two became bitter political enemies. Hamilton's Federalism and Madison's Republicanism became prototypes of political divisions that continue in the United States. Myerson's story of Hamilton, Madison, and The Federalist Papers makes compelling reading.

The final goal of Myerson's study is to show that the ultimate falling-out of Hamilton and Madison teaches that "it is folly to ignore the wisdom of those with whom one disagrees." Hamilton and Madison each have much to teach. Unlike Hamilton and Madison, contemporary Americans would do well to learn from those with whom they disagree and to work together. Hamilton and Madison did so in The Federalist Papers with results that transcend the enmity that later developed between them.

Besides the story of Hamilton and Madison, Myerson succeeds well when he gives a short, close reading of Madison's Federalist # 10, which has become the most famous essay in the collection. He also offers an excellent concluding chapter on The Federalist Papers and its views on human nature. The authors recognized the frailties of human beings and the passions, emotions, and tendencies towards self-centeredness to which they were subject. They tried to channel these frailties in creating a workable form of government. But they also recognized the possiblity of education, virtue and disinterestedness in human endeavor. These qualities too they tried to utilize in both creating and explaining the American experiment in government.

Readers who are new to The Federalist Papers will find Myerson's book an excellent introduction. A good step after reading this book would be to turn to some of the excellent Amazon reader reviews of The Federalist Papers. Then the reader may be inspired to explore this work of American political thought for him or herself.

Robin Friedman

Why read the book when the author doesn't know the the U.S. Constitution established a representative republic and not a democracy?