>>> "Sean Andrews" <cultstud76 at gmail.com> 02/05/2008 6:53 PM >>>
I've been reading about the origins of the American Constitution, and if it isn't popular, it would seem to be because the whole reason for having the constitution was to keep it from happening. In much the same way that, in the English Civil War, the settlement (in 1660) most of the more radical elements had been contained, the little Interregnum between the Revolutionary War and the writing of the constitution seems to have also produced elements that needed to be contained. I'm saying this, in part, to get feedback on this perspective. I take this view, in part, from this quote from the introduction to the Penguin edition of the Federalist Papers. It's written by Issac Kramnick. The context is that he is looking at why the constitution was thought necessary. He opens with an anecdote about John Adams running into a man he used to defend in court over issues of debt and Adam's reflection on how disastrous it would be if this guy was making the laws.
^^^^ CB; Wow. I gotta admit uhhh this seems truer than I had thought of before. The Constitution was a counter- revolution ! Thanks for that reference.