Hackett Publishing

If you would like to purchase the 2 volume set please click HERE.

Volume 1 of a 2-volume set.

North American rights only.

From James I's "Address Before Parliament" (1610) to Joseph R. Biden, Jr.'s "Learned Hand Dinner Address Before the American Jewish Committee" (2005), this two-volume set offers an unparalleled selection of key texts from the history of American political and constitutional thought.

"This collection surpasses anything else I have seen in its representation of the complexity, breadth, and sheer intellectual splendor of United States political thinking.  I have trouble imagining how the editors could improve on their skillful blending of vital texts and neglected gems; of legal documents and literary treasures; of poems, speeches, sermons, and jeremiads.  The European and American roots of U.S. constitutional thinking are displayed in a fashion that reflects the best recent scholarship while at the same time the spokesmen from Indian nations are given the broad and full presence they deserve.  The torturous intersection of race and politics is explored in well-chosen texts by Black, Chicano, and Indian writers and through a host of legal documents and decisions. Conservative and progressive voices, labor activists and libertarians, analytical political philosophers, and Sunday editorialists; they all find their place within the editors' lucid arrangement.  This will serve as a superb textbook for classes on United States political theory, for classes on constitutional history, and for overviews of the struggle for democracy in America.  It is a great gathering of evidence for those who see the United States as having a political theory tradition of unique richness, range, and relevance."
     —Brian Walker, UCLA

"This is easily the most comprehensive, thoughtful, and updated collection of primary source readings in American political theory.  It covers material typically excluded in existing edited volumes, particularly source documents for Native Americans, women, and African-Americans.  Not only is the founding period well represented, but so too are the most recent expressions of American thought and politics."
     —Jim Savage, University of Virginia

"A thorough and reliable compilation that nicely reflects both European antecedents and American regional contributors to a vibrant political and constitutional national story—and at a bargain price for so much content."
     —Jon Kukla, author of A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny
        of America (Knopf, 2003)

"A fantastic, comprehensive collection of primary materials, perfect for classroom use.  Material is well-organized and presented with well-written, useful introductions contextualizing the documents and raising pertinent questions."
     —Ruth Grant, Department of Political Science, Duke University

"This is the finest set of documents for the classroom that I have seen.  This collection is complete, well balanced, and thought-provoking.  It is suitable for use in a variety of kinds of classes, including U.S. History on the survey and upper-division levels, U.S. Government, Political Theory, Religion, and Constitutional Development.  In a time of skyrocketing prices for texts, the moderate cost of these volumes is very attractive."
     —Paul Reddin, Department of History, Mesa State College

"The two-volume Classics of American Political and Constitutional Thought is incredibly comprehensive—I don't know of any collection that directly compares to it.  [This book] seems to have something for everyone."
     —Alan Houston, Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego

"This is a fine collection of writings with a variety of viewpoints.  It is an excellent choice for courses on American political thought and courses in American philosophy with a significant component on political thinking.  It is also attractively priced for a work of this size and quality."
     —David Nice, Department of Political Science, Washington State University

"A masterful and comprehensive anthology.  I plan on assigning one or both [volumes] next year."
      —Russell Muirhead, Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin


TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Acknowledgements.
The Declaration of Independence.
The Constitution of the United States.

CHAPTER ONE: LIBERTY, ABSOLUTISM, ANDTHE ANCIENT CONSTITUTION:
Editors' Introduction.  James I: Address before Parliament (1610) (complete).  Early Colonial Documents: The Third Charter of Virginia (1611) (excerpt); The Mayflower Compact (1620) (complete); Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639) (complete); Maryland Toleration Act (1649) (complete).  John Winthrop: Model of Christian Charity (1630) (complete); Little Speech on Liberty (1645) (complete).  Nathaniel Ward: The Simple Cobbler of Aggawam (1647) (excerpt).  James Harrington: Oceana (1656) (excerpts).  Samuel Pufendorf: On the Law of Nature and Nations (1672) (excerpts).  Algernon Sidney: Apology (1683) (complete); Discourses Concerning Government (1689) (excerpts).  William Penn: A Frame of Government (1682) (complete); Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges Granted (1701) (complete).  Resolutions of the Germantown Mennonites (1688) (complete).  John Locke: Second Treatise of Government (1689) (excerpts).  English Bill of Rights (1689) (excerpt).

CHAPTER TWO: LIBERTY AND MONARCH UNDER THE BALANCED CONSTITUTION:
Editors' Introduction.  Joseph Addison: Letter against Parties (1711) (complete).  John Wise: A Vindication of New England Churches (1717) (excerpt).  John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon: Cato's Letters (1719-1723) (excerpts).  William Byrd: Letter to John Perceval, Earl of Egmont (1736) (complete).  Sir John Randolph: Re-Election Speech (1736) (complete).  Jonathan Edwards: Northampton Covenant (1742) (complete).  David Hume: Essays Moral, Political and Literary (1742 & '77) (excerpts); Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth (1754) (excerpt).  Georgia Trustees: A Brief Account of the Causes that have Retarded the Progress of the Colony of Georgia (1743) (complete).  Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu: Spirit of the Laws (1748) (excerpts).  Jonathan Mayhew: A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers (1750) (excerpt).  William Livingston: Essays from the Independent Reflector (1752-53) (excerpts).  Peter Fontaine: Letters (1756-57) (complete).

CHAPTER THREE: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:
Editors' Introduction.  James Otis (with John Adams): Against Writs of Assistance (1761) (complete).  Stephen Hopkins: The Rights of the Colonies Examined (1764) (excerpt).  Thomas Whately: The Regulations Lately Made (1765) (excerpt).  Jared Ingersoll: Letter to Thomas Finch (1765) (excerpt).  Virginia Resolutions (Newport Mercury) (1765) (excerpt).  Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress (1765) (complete).  William Pym: Letter to the London General Evening Post (1765) (excerpt).  Daniel Dulany: Considerations on the Property of Imposing Taxes in the British Colonies (1765) (excerpt).  John Adams: Clarendon, no. 3 (1766) (complete).  Richard Bland: An Inquiry into the Rights of the British Colonies (1766) (complete).  Brittannus Amercicanus: Untitled Essay (1766) (complete).  Anonymous: Letter to the Pennsylvania Journal (1766) (complete).  Samuel Adams: Circular Letter from the Massachusetts House of Representatives to the Speakers of other Houses of Representatives (1768) (complete).  Benjamin Rush: Letter to Ebenezer Hazard (1768) (complete).  John Dickinson: Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1768) (excerpts). Thomas Hutchinson: A Dialogue between an American and a European Englishman (1768) (excerpts).  Samuel Adams: Letter to the Boston Gazette (1769) (complete); The Rights of the Colonists (1772) (complete).  Thomas Hutchinson: Speech to the Two Houses (1773) (excerpt).  Council (Bowdoin, Gray, Otis, Hall): Reply to Gov. Hutchinson (1773) (excerpt).  Massachusetts House of Representatives (S. Adams, J. Hancock, et al.): Reply to Gov. Hutchinson (1773) (excerpt).  Phyllis Wheatley: Letter to the Connecticut Gazette (1774) (complete).  Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress (1774) (complete).  Isaac Backus: A History of New England with Particular Reference to the Baptists, Vol. 2 (excerpt).  Thomas Jefferson: A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774) (complete).  Alexander Hamilton: The Farmer Refuted (1775) (excerpt).  John Wesley: A Calm Address to Our American Colonies (1775) (excerpt).  Thomas Paine: Common Sense (1776) (excerpts).  James Chalmers (Candidus): Plain Truth (1776) (excerpts).  Carter Braxton: Letter to Landon Carter (1776) (complete).  John Adams: Thoughts on Government (1776) (complete). Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) (complete).  Anonymous: From Four Letters on Interesting Subjects, Letter IV (1776) (complete).  John Adams: Letter to Abigail Adams (1776) (complete).  Abigail Adams: Letter to John Adams (1776) (complete).  Benjamin Rush: Letter to Patrick Henry (1776) (complete).  Benjamin Franklin: Letter to Lord Howe (1776) (complete).  Notes of Debates in Congress (1776) (excerpts).  John Witherspoon: Speech in Congress (1776) (complete); Sermon (1776).  Benjamin Rush: Notes for a Speech in Congress (1776) (excerpts).  Henry Laurens: Letter to John Laurens (1776) (excerpt).  Concord Town Meeting Resolutions (1776) (complete).  Thomas Paine: The Crisis, No. 1 (excerpt).  Carter Braxton: A Native of This Colony (1776) (complete).

CHAPTER FOUR: THE FOUNDING OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONS:
Editors' Introduction.  The Articles of Confederation (1777, '81) (complete).  Alexander Hamilton: Letter to James Duane (1780) (excerpt).  James Madison: Letter to Thomas Jefferson (1781) (excerpt).  J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur: Letters from an American Farmer, Letter III (1782) (excerpt).  Thomas Jefferson: Notes on the State of Virginia, Queries 14, 18, 19 (1782) (excerpts).  Benjamin Banneker: Letter to Thomas Jefferson (1791) (complete).  Thomas Jefferson: Reply to Benjamin Banneker.  James Madison: Notes on Debates in Congress (1783) (excerpt); Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments (1785) (complete).  Richard Henry Lee: Letter to Samuel Adams (1785) (complete); Letter to George Mason (1787) (complete).  The Northwest Ordinance (1787) (excerpt).  George Washington: Letter to John Jay (1786) (complete).  John Jay: Letter to George Washington (complete).  George Washington: Letter to John Jay (1787) (excerpt).  James Madison: Vices of the Political System of the United States (1787) (complete); Letter to George Washington (1787) (complete); Notes on the Debates in the Federal Convention (1787) (excerpts).

CHAPTER FIVE: THE RATIFICATION DEBATE:
Editors' Introduction.  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay (Publius): The Federalist Papers (1787-88), abridged.  James Wilson: Speech on Ratification (1787) (complete).  Thomas Jefferson: Letter to James Madison (1789) (complete).  James Madison: Letter to Thomas Jefferson (1787) (complete); Letter to Thomas Jefferson (1788) (complete). Robert Yates: Cato #4 (1787) (complete).  An Old Whig: Essay #5 (complete).  Robert Yates: Brutus Essays (1787-88) (excerpts).  Federal Farmer (1787-88) (excerpts).  Melancton Smith: Speeches (1788) (excerpts).  John Adams: Letter to Roger Sherman (1789) (complete); Letter to Samuel Adams (1790) (complete); Discourse on Davila (1789) (excerpts).

CHAPTER SIX: LIBERTY, AUTHORITY, AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GOVERNMENT:
Editors' Introduction.  Henry Knox: Report on White Outrages (1788) (excerpt).  Tribal Council of Delaware and Additional Tribes: Proposal (1793) (complete).  Red Jacket: Speech in Response to White Missionaries (1805) (complete); Speech in Response to Land Speculators (1811) (complete).  George Washington: Inaugural Address (1789) (complete); Letter to the United Baptist Churches of Virginia (1789) (complete).  James Madison and Alexander White: Debates in the First Congress (1789) (excerpts).  Thomas Jefferson: Letter to Nehemiah Dodge, et al. (1802) (complete); Letter to Benjamin Hawkins (1803) (excerpt); Letter to Gov. W. H. Harrison (1803) (excerpt).  Alexander Hamilton: Report on Public Credit (1790) (excerpt); Report on a National Bank (1790) (complete).  Thomas Jefferson: On the Constitutionality of a National Bank (1791) (complete).  Alexander Hamilton: Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank (1791) (excerpt); Report on Manufacturers (1791) (excerpts).  George Washington: Letter to Alexander Hamilton (1792) (complete).  Alexander Hamilton: Letter to George Washington (1792) (excerpt).  James Madison: A Candid State of Parties (1792) (complete).  Alexander Hamilton: Pacificus, No. 1 (1793) (complete).  James Madison: Helvidius, No. 1 (1793) (complete).  Alexander Hamilton: Letter to George Washington (1794) (complete); Tully, No. 1 (1794) (complete); Tully, No. 3, (1794) (complete).  George Washington: Letter to Henry Lee (1794) (excerpt).  Thomas Jefferson: Letter to James Madison (1794) (excerpt).  Alexander Hamilton: Memorandum on the French Revolution (1794) (complete).  George Washington: Farewell Address (1796) (complete).  Alexander Addison: On Liberty of Speech and of the Press (1797) (excerpt).  Thomas Jefferson: Draft of the Kentucky Resolution (1798) (complete).  James Madison: Virginia Resolution against the Alien and Sedition Act (1798) (complete).  John Marshall: Report of the Minority on the Virginia Resolutions (1799) (complete).  Thomas Jefferson: Letter to Elbridge Gerry (1799) (excerpt); Letter to William Green Munford (1799) (excerpt).  James Madison: Report on the Virginia Resolutions (1800) (excerpt).  Samuel Chase: Calder v. Bull (1798) (excerpt).  William Patterson: Calder v. Bull, concurring opinion (1798) (excerpt).  James Iredell: Calder v. Bull, dissenting opinion (1798) (excerpt).  Thomas Jefferson: First Inaugural Address (1801) (complete).

CHAPTER SEVEN: LIBERTY, MORALITY, AND NATIONALISM:
Editors' Introduction.  Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography (1791) (excerpts).  Phyllis Wheatley: Selected Poems (1770-76) (complete selections).  Bishop Madison: Manifestation of the Beneficent of Divine Providence (1808) (complete).  John Marshall: Marbury v. Madison (1803) (excerpt).  Thomas Jefferson: Letter to John Adams (1813) (excerpt); Letter to Samuel Kercheval (1816) (excerpt).  John Adams: Letters to Thomas Jefferson (1813) (excerpts).  Fisher Ames: A Sketch of the Character of Alexander Hamilton (1804) (complete); The Mire of Democracy (1805) (complete).  James Madison: Speech to the Virginia Constitutional Convention (1829) (complete).  William Emerson: Fourth of July Oration (1802) (excerpt).  William Manning: The Key of Liberty (1798) (excerpt).  Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in America (1835, 1840) (excerpts).  Richard McNemar: The Kentucky Revival (1808) (excerpts).  John Marshall: Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816) (excerpts); Barron v. Baltimore (1833) (excerpt).  Ralph Waldo Emerson: Politics (1844) (complete).

CHAPTER EIGHT: LIBERTY, ORDER, AND THE MARKET:
Editors' Introduction.  Jared Ingersoll: Inchiquin's Letters (1810) (excerpt). Peter Porter: Speech on Internal Improvements (1810) (excerpt).  Tenkswatawa (The Prophet): Address at Ft. Vincennes (1808) (complete).  Tecumseh: Three Speeches (1811-1812) (complete).  Pushmataha: Speech Opposing Tecumseh (1811) (complete).  John Marshall: Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) (excerpt); McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) (excerpt).  James Kent: Addresses before the New York State Constitutional Convention (1821) (excerpt).  John Marshall: Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) (excerpt).  Henry Clay: Speeches on the American System (1823) (excerpts).  John Calhoun: Fort Hill Address (1831) (complete).  John Marshall: Cherokee Nation v. State of Georgia (1831) (complete); Worcester v. Georgia (1832) (excerpt ).  T. Hartley Crawford: Annual Report of the Commissioner Indian Affairs (1838) (excerpt).  Andrew Jackson: Veto of the Maysville Road Bill (1830) (excerpt); Message on the Removal of the Southern Indians (1835) (excerpt).  Memorial and Protest of the Cherokee Nation (1836) (excerpt).  Roger Taney: Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837) (excerpt).  Joseph Story: Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge, dissent (1837) (complete).  Daniel Webster: Speech on the Presidential Veto of the Bank Bill (1832) (excerpt).  Theophilus Fisk: Capital against Labor (1835) (excerpt).  David Henshaw: Remarks Upon the Rights and Powers of Corporations (1837) (excerpt).  Ralph Waldo Emerson: Divinity School Address (1838) (complete).  Henry David Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1849) (excerpt); Walden (1854) (excerpts).

CHAPTER NINE: SLAVERY AND SECESSION:
Editors' Introduction.  James Forten, et al.: A Voice from Philadelphia (1817) (complete).  Richard Furman: Exposition of the Views of Baptists Relative to the Coloured Population (1822) (excerpt).  James Madison: Letter to Edward Everett on Nullification (1830) (complete).  David Walker: Appeal in Four Articles (1830) (excerpts).  Abraham Lincoln: Address to the Young Men's Lyceum (1838) (complete).  William Lloyd Garrison: Selections from The Liberator (1831-44) (excerpts).  Robert Hayne and Daniel Webster: Speeches in Debate over Foot's Resolution (1830) (excerpts).  Henry Highland Garnet: An Address to the Slaves of the U.S.A. (1843) (excerpt).  Frederick Douglass: What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? (1852) (excerpt).  George Fitzhugh: Sociology for the South (1854) (excerpt).  Henry David Thoreau: Slavery in Massachusetts (1854) (excerpt).  Roger Taney: Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) (excerpt).  Benjamin R. Curtis: Dred Scott v. Sanford, dissenting opinion (1857) (excerpt).  Abraham Lincoln: Fragment on Government (1854) (complete); Fragments on Slavery (1854) (complete); The House Divided Speech (1858) (complete).  Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas: Selected Debates (1858) (excerpts).  Abraham Lincoln: Cooper Union Address, (1860) (complete); Address in Independence Hall (1860); First Inaugural Address (1861) (complete).  Alexander Stephens: Cornerstone Speech (1861) (excerpt).

CHAPTER TEN: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION:
Editors' Introduction.  Abraham Lincoln: Letter to Orville H. Browning (1861) (complete); Message to Congress on Compensatory Emancipation (1862) (complete); Proclamation Revoking Martial Emancipation (1862) (complete); Address on Colonization to a Committee of Colored Men (1862) (complete); Letter to Horace Greeley (1862) (complete); Reply to a Committee of Churches (1862) (complete); Proclamation Suspending Writ of Habeas Corpus (1862) (complete); Meditation on Divine Will (1862) (complete); Emancipation Proclamation (1863) (complete); Letter to Erastus Corning, et al. (1863) (complete); Letter to Governor Johnson (1863) (complete); Proclamation Suspending Writ of Habeas Corpus (1863) (complete); Gettysburg Address (1863) (complete); Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863) (complete); Letter to Albert G. Hodges (1864) (complete); Proclamation Concerning Reconstruction (1864) (complete); Second Inaugural Address (1865) (complete).  Wade-Davis Manifesto (1864) (complete).  James McKaye: The Mastership and Its Fruits (1864) (excerpt).  Charles Soule: Letter to General Oliver O'Howard, including an enclosed speech to the freed people of Orangeburg (1865) (excerpt with complete speech).  Joseph Daniel Pope: Report and Remarks on Post-War Conditions in South Carolina (1865) (complete).  Thaddeus Stevens: Speech at Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1865) (excerpts).  The Freedmen of Edisto Island: Petition (1865) (complete).  Andrew Johnson: Veto of Freedman's Bureau Bill (1866) (complete); Veto of Civil Rights Act of 1866 (complete).  Lyman Trumball: Speech to the United States Senate (1866) (complete).  Civil Rights Act of 1866 (excerpt).  Alexander Stephens: Testimony before the Joint Congressional Committee (1866) (excerpt).  David Davis: Ex Parte Milligan (1867) (excerpt).  First Reconstruction Act (1867) (complete).  Andrew Johnson: Veto of the First Reconstruction Act (1867) (excerpt).  Samuel J. Tilden: Speech on Reconstruction (1868) (excerpt).  Constitution and Ritual of the Knights of the White Camellia (1868) (excerpt).  Raleigh Daily Sentinel: Editorial (1869) (complete).  "Colored" Citizens of Frankfort: Petition to Congress of the Committee of Grievances (1871) (complete).  Federal Grand Jury: Report on the Ku Klux Klan (1871) (complete).  Ulysses S. Grant: Memoirs (1885) (excerpts).  Anonymous: Letter to my Old Master (1865) (complete).


Scott J. Hammond is Professor, and Howard L. Lubert Associate Professor, of Political Science, James Madison University.  Kevin R. Hardwick is Associate Professor of History, James Madison University.