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by Warren McFerran (Author)
A study of America's early history and founding documents with an emphasis on the principles of federalism and an argument against big government.
A chronicle of the rise of American civilization from its inception through the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention of 1787, this scholarly text examines the differences between a national, or centralized and consolidated, system and a federal, or localized and state-focused, system of government. Emphasizing the Christian foundations of the United States, the colonial preference for principles of federalism, and the American rejection of socialism, Warren L. McFerran provides a detailed analysis of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Federalist Papers, and the federal Constitution.
During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the delegates introduced contending plans of government and an intense struggle between the advocates of federalism and nationalism emerged. The champions of federalism and state sovereignty triumphed at that convention, yet this essential policy of power decentralization was to change in the centuries to follow. With conviction, McFerran brings this discourse of federalism vs. nationalism into the twenty-first century, exposing the present big, national government as one hostile to the liberties of the American people. He ultimately demonstrates the manners in which a federal system best serves the freedoms of Americans, much as our Founding Fathers intended.
Back Jacket
"The States can never lose their powers till the whole people of America are robbed of their liberties. These must go together; they must support each other, or meet one common fate."
--Alexander Hamilton, New York State Ratifying Convention, 1788
Would the Founding Fathers of the United States recognize today's government? Indeed, argues Warren L. McFerran in this expansive study of the foundations of American civilization, they would recognize it as the type of government they rejected in the Constitutional Convention because of its hostilities toward the liberties of the American people.
A detailed and well-documented analysis of the origins of the United States, Birth of the Republic opens with a discussion of the Christian and anti-socialist values of early American society and the revolt against socialist tyranny that gave rise to the American Revolution. With clarity and precision, McFerran systematically examines the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitutional Convention of 1787, looking at how the concept of state sovereignty was safeguarded and transformed during the early heated discussions between the advocates of nationalism and those of federalism.
Including a state-by-state account of the ratification period in 1787, this volume concludes with a meticulous reading of the present federal Constitution. As the author convincingly demonstrates, the Constitution of the United States established a federal republic that rests upon the pillars of sovereign states. Scholarly in approach and thoroughly researched, this work assesses and analyzes those forces--past and present--that threaten to subvert the Constitution and undermine America's republican form and federal system of government.
