The ratification process was a tribute to what Nathan Dane of Massachusetts, a reluctant convert to the Constitution, called “the attention of this intelligent people.” Elites who disdain or ignore their fellow citizens come to grief.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Nation-Building
Richard Brookhiser reviews Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788, by Pauline Maier, in , in The New York Times.