Ocean State Libraries

"Describes how the Constitution was drafted and ratified." --

Fifty-five men met in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a document that would create a country and change a world: the Constitution. Here is a remarkable rendering of that fateful time, told with humanity and humor. Decision in Philadelphia is the best popular history of the Constitutional Convention; in it, the life and times of eighteenth century America not only come alive, but the very human qualities of the men who framed the document are brought...

From distinguished historian Richard Beeman comes a dramatic and engrossing account of the men who met in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 to design a radically new form of government. Beeman takes readers behind the scenes and beyond the debate to show how the world's most enduring constitution was forged through conflict, compromise, and, eventually, fragile consensus during a time when many Americans feared that a combination of financial...

Recounts the evolution of our Constitution from the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and discusses the changes that have come about in the ensuing 200 years.

"Reveals the explosive issues and the political battles which gave birth to the most important document in United States history." --