David O. Stewart - The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution

P RAISE FOR T HE S UMMER OF 1787

At a time that feels to many like the twilight of the Republic, it is heartening to go back to the dawn and watch the authors of the Constitution struggle to create a democracy that would endure. In The Summer of 1787 , David O. Stewart recreates this moment with fidelity, great feeling, and insight. His book renews our appreciation of one of the masterpieces of Western civilization and reminds us, as Benjamin Franklin reminded his colleagues at the Constitutional Convention, that it was one thing to found a republicand quite another to keep it.

Patricia OToole, author of When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House

At a time when many Americans feel beleaguered by internal antagonisms and uncertainty about the world, David Stewarts The Summer of 1787 is a welcome blast of fresh air. This succinct and fascinating book inspires us anew with the brilliance and fortitude of the leaders who went to Philadelphiaand shows, step by step, how they created our system of government.

Michael Beschloss, author of Presidential Courage

Since Catherine Drinker Bowens Miracle at Philadelphia appeared in 1966, no work has challenged its classic status. Now, Stewarts work does. Briskly written, full of deft characterizations and drama, grounded firmly in the records of the Constitutional Convention and its members letters, this is a splendid rendering of the documents creation.... [An] excellent book.

Publishers Weekly [Starred Review]

Mr. Stewart... has done a fine job of pulling together the details of the deliberations that resulted in the U.S. Constitution.... He infuses the story with drama and provides glimpses of life during the hot summer... also offers fascinating biographical portraits.... Like any good historian, David Stewart looks beneath the surface to find that real story, and this makes The Summer of 1787 a valuable addition to the literature about the creation of the American Constitution.

Philip Seib, The Dallas Morning News

David O. Stewarts spirited The Summer of 1787 explores a time when brilliant menalong with colleagues less acute but often louderhammered out the template for the United States of America. With indelible vignettes and anecdotes, Stewart reminds us why those four months in Philadelphia can still shake the world.

A. J. Langguth, author of Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence

David O. Stewart made clearer to me than ever the tensions and bargains that produced our Constitution at the Convention of 1787. Especially the bargain over slavery, with all its terrible, lasting consequences. It is an irresistible drama.

Anthony Lewis, author of Gideons Trumpet

A book for those who like their history written with easy elegance and a sharp sense of humor.... Stewart... has a firm grasp of the many confusing and contradictory strands of the seven-article document that came into being. He also has a keen eye for the personalities involved as they clashed, compromised, and ultimately created our remarkable Constitution.... [An] engrossing tale.

James Srodes, Washington Lawyer

The Summer of 1787 may be more than two centuries in our past, but David O. Stewart makes it wonderfully vivid in this fresh and gripping account of Americas constitutional birth pangs. Instead of periwigged demigods, Stewart introduces us to fifty-five white males, whose talent for compromise planted the seeds of representative democracy in their garden of privilege. This tale offers the perfect antidote to our own sound bite and focus group politics.

Richard Norton Smith, author of Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation

A fine writer whose narrative unfolds like a well-structured novel.... Stewart artfully shows the roles played by the key players as they grappled with issues as varied as the rights of states and the future of slavery. In Stewarts view, the true genius of these founders was their understanding that free, popular government must be based upon compromise. General readers will find this work stimulating.

Jay Freeman, Booklist

If Stewart deliberately had set out to write a timely account of the fifty-five men from twelve states who produced our national framework document, hes scored a 10-strike.... Stewart does a first-class job, advancing the drama in a lively, narrative style.

Dick Herman, Lincoln Journal Star

As adept as Stewart proves at navigating historical context and legal details, his story is character-driven.... Stewarts descriptions reveal the delegates to have been unequivocally human. His direct, almost conversational prose and fine-grain portraits of the framers... give debates over interstate commerce and presidential election schemes an operatic emotional depth.

Christine Gibson, American Heritage

[A] profound, and yet utterly readable account of the infighting that brought about this most praiseworthy of law collections.... Stewart places us there, in that long ago hot summer. He is a master storyteller as well as evidence-building historian.

John Davis, The Decatur Daily (Decatur, AL)

Not only can you follow the debates over key issues and understand how our Constitution was written, you can gain valuable lessons on leadership from the gentlemen in the room. You will also get a good sense of the rhythm of representative government deliberating weighty issues. If you read only one book about the Constitution, let it be The Summer of 1787.

Michael L. Ramsey, The Roanoke Times

A fascinating new study of the creation of the United States Constitution.... A thorough, witty, and very intelligent account of a most important event in our history.

Kendall Wild, Rutland Herald (Rutland, VT)

In telling the story of the constitutional convention, Stewart mined the contemporaneous notes made on the convention as well as the diaries and memoirs of the delegates. The result is a pleasing and eclectic portrait of the life of our founding politicians.

Christine Pappas, Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)

Writing about the Constitutional Convention of 1787 is a challenge, a literary high-wire act.... In The Summer of 1787, David O. Stewart overcomes the challenge. With his strong organization, clear writing, and dry humor, Stewart comes off the literary high wire with a Ta Da and a spring in his step.... A must read.

John Rowen, Schenectady Gazette

F OR N ANCY

S IMON & S CHUSTER P APERBACKS

A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright 2007 by David O. Stewart

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition May 2008

S IMON & S CHUSTER P APERBACKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Designed by Dana Sloan
Author photograph by Nancy Floreen

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows: Stewart, David O.

The summer of 1787 : the men who invented the constitution / David O. Stewart.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.1. United States. Constitutional Convention (1787). 2. Constitutional historyUnited States. 3. Constitutional conventionsUnited StatesHistory18th century. 4. United States. ConstitutionSignersBiography. I. Title. II. Title: Men who wrote the U.S. constitution.

KF4510.S74 2007

342.7302'9dc22 2006051249

ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-8692-3

ISBN-10: 0-7432-8692-8