"Power versus Liberty provides fresh perspectives on the political thought of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, and Thomas Jefferson, statesmen and theorists who played crucial roles in shaping the American experiment in republican government. Read shows how these revolutionaries struggled to reconcile tensions between liberty and power; his important book succeeds admirably in reconstructing a fascinating debate over fundamental questions that continues to command our attention. Historians and theorists alike will gain much from Read's judicious and thoughtful analysis." (Peter S. Onuf, University of Virginia)
"James Read in effect returns to the themes Bernard Bailyn put at the center of his classic study of the American Revolution and rescues them from the so-called Republican Synthesis. He extends Bailyn's analysis into the period of the early republic and shows how much insight the related themes of power and liberty can give when deployed by a deft hand." (Michael Zuckert, University of Notre Dame)
"In these deft essays, James Read offers an astute introduction to the four leading original architects of the American constitutional tradition: Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton, and James Wilson. Few writers have captured their essential ideas so concisely or appreciatively."
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
Does every increase in the power of government entail a loss of liberty for the people? "Power versus Liberty" examines how four key Founders -- James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, and Thomas Jefferson -- wrestled with this question during the first two decades of the American Republic. The book reconstructs a four-way conversation -- sometimes respectful, sometimes shrill -- that touched on the most important issues facing the new nation: the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, federal authority versus states' rights, freedom of the press, the controversial Bank of the United States, the relation between nationalism and democracy, and the elusive meaning of "the consent of the governed."
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