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Article: What the writers intended; America's constitution.(America's Constitution: A Biography)(Book Review)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- September 10, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Jefferson: draftsman and slaveowner
NO MODERN text has been more intensely and intelligently analysed than the fewer than 8,000 words of the constitution of the United States. Akhil Reed Amar, a Yale law and political science professor, has written an original, thorough and opinionated guide to the goals and meaning intended by those who drafted and ratified the original 1787 document and its 27 amendments.
He opens with the mighty words of the preamble: "We, the People...do ordain and establish this Constitution." This statement and action, Mr Amar asserts, "was the most dramatic deed the world had ever seen." The malignancy within the original ...