paleoconservativeFriends,

Announcing a forthcoming book by The Imaginative Conservative contributors Lee Cheek & Sean Busick, The Founding of the American Republic. A fine addition to your list of books to enjoy in 2012. To be published by Continuum, December 2012. Below is the publisher’s description.

This non partisan book brings often ignored people, ideas, and events to the forefront to offer new insights into the Founding of the American Republic.

American Founding aims to provide a fair and thorough reappraisal of the Founding of the American Republic. Oftentimes, the Founders are, when not forgotten, made to fit some “ideological box” –liberals or conservatives, villains or saints. This book proves that such views need to be reconsidered, free from past ideologies and interpretations, to recover their teaching and foster a better understanding of contemporary politics. To do so, the authors let the Founders speak for themselves, by looking first at the Declaration of Independence, which reveals their vision of state and federal authority. Next, they examine how the Declaration was incorporated into the Articles of Confederation, in effect the first Constitution, and finally the Constitution of 1787, the most profound manifestation of the Founders’ view of the nature of American politics and society.

American Founding takes a broad view of the Founding while resisting an ideologically charged reading of history. This lively, historically accurate analysis of the paleoconservative perspective will serve anyone interested in American political history and culture.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Plymouth Rock and Jamestown/ Chapter 2: The Founders and Faith/ Chapter 3: Founders and a Humane Economy/ Chapter 4: Founders on Government Power, Rightly Understood/ Chapter 5: The Declaration/ Chapter 6: Articles as First Constitution/ Chapter 7: Philadelphia Convention and the Constitution of 1787/ Chapter 8: The Founders, Part I: Convention/ Chapter 9: The Founders, Part II: Ratification/ Chapter 10: Founding Heroes/ Chapter 11: Slavery and the Founders/ Chapter 12: Legacies of the Founding

Author(s)

H. Lee Cheek, H. Lee Cheek is Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Political Science at Athens State University in Athens, USA. He has served as a congressional aide and as a political consultant. His books include Calhoun and Popular Rule (2001) and a critical edition of W. H. Mallock’s The Limits of Pure Democracy (2007). Dr. Cheek is regarded as an authority on American political thought and the Founding generation.

Sean R. Busick, Sean R. Busick is an Associate Professor of History at Athens State University in Athens, USA. He is the author of A Sober Desire for History: William Gilmore Simms as Historian (2005), which was nominated for several prizes. Dr. Busick lectures to community groups and has published many articles and reviews in journals including the Journal of Southern History and Journal of American History.

All comments are moderated and must be civil, concise, and constructive to the conversation. Comments that are critical of an essay may be approved, but comments containing ad hominem criticism of the author will not be published. Also, comments containing web links or block quotations are unlikely to be approved. Keep in mind that essays represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Imaginative Conservative or its editor or publisher.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email