Early Years of the Republic and the Constitution, 1783-1793

by Herbert Aptheker

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0717804712
• ISBN13: 9780717804719
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: International Publishers
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Thorough Analysis of the Motives of America's Founding Fathers.

This book is a continuation of Apthekers other books on early American history The Colonial Era and The American Revolution. The books demonstrates how the rise of a national consciousness during and after the Revolutionary War led to proposals for a stronger central government Aptheker shows that the Constitution was neither a document without any upper class bias or the culmination of a counter revolutionary plot but the logical consolidation of a Bourgeois-Democratic revolution that was progressive for its time. Aptheker demonstrates that their were large class differences during the early days of the American Republic especially in the South. Many of the poor such as preacher Samuel Ely, and farmer Daniel Shays whose rebellion included a black captian named Moses Sash struggled against the injustices of the upper class dominated state governments. The relations between the state and federal governmetns and the American Indians is also examined. The various types of struggles of the black slaves for their freedom including running away, committing suicide and rebellion. Free blacks formed their own churches and struggled for equal rights. Many white Americans such as Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush supported the abolition of the slave trade and slavery and many abolition societies were formed int 178o's and 90's. Aptheker also discusses the calls by women such as Abigail Adams and others for both men and women for equal rights for women especially the right of women to have an education. This is a very readable book and a classic look at the early United States by a great historian.