The Language of the Constitution - by Thurston Greene (Hardcover)

About the Book

What did the Founding Fathers mean when they wrote the Constitution? What did the right to keep and bear arms or an establishment of religion or the republican form of government mean to the founders? Obviously, as enlightened men of the late eighteenth century, they were familiar with a host of ideas and concepts drawn from ancient political theory as well as contemporary political pamphleteers. However, as our language has evolved the precise meaning of the words of the founders has become obscure as well as misunderstood.

To make the words and concepts used by the founders clear to modern readers, Greene and his colleagues have gone back to the sources known to the founders and excerpted the key passages from these sources that bear on the language and concepts of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. More than eighty key words are organized in alphabetical order, from accusation to witness. Under each entry, passages from key sources are provided in chronological order from as early as 1215 to December 15, 1791. Augmented by a concordance to the Constitution and a general subject index, The Language of the Constitution provides easy access to the key concepts and ideas of the Constitution as the founders understood them. This volume is invaluable for students and legal professionals, including lawyers, legislators, and judges of the state courts (which are now interpreting the federal constitution), as well as the federal courts. It is an essential acquisition for public, school, university, and law school libraries.

Book Synopsis

What did the Founding Fathers mean when they wrote the Constitution? What did the right to keep and bear arms or an establishment of religion or the republican form of government mean to the founders? Obviously, as enlightened men of the late eighteenth century, they were familiar with a host of ideas and concepts drawn from ancient political theory as well as contemporary political pamphleteers. However, as our language has evolved the precise meaning of the words of the founders has become obscure as well as misunderstood.

To make the words and concepts used by the founders clear to modern readers, Greene and his colleagues have gone back to the sources known to the founders and excerpted the key passages from these sources that bear on the language and concepts of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. More than eighty key words are organized in alphabetical order, from accusation to witness. Under each entry, passages from key sources are provided in chronological order from as early as 1215 to December 15, 1791. Augmented by a concordance to the Constitution and a general subject index, The Language of the Constitution provides easy access to the key concepts and ideas of the Constitution as the founders understood them. This volume is invaluable for students and legal professionals, including lawyers, legislators, and judges of the state courts (which are now interpreting the federal constitution), as well as the federal courts. It is an essential acquisition for public, school, university, and law school libraries.

Review Quotes

"A permanent contribution to improved understanding of the Constitution and its meaning."-Warren E. Burger Chairman, Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution (Chief Justice of the United States, 1969-1986)

"By combining etymology and constitutional law, Thurston Greene's The Language of the Constitution enhances our understanding of both the key terms of the U.S. Constitution and the history which produced that terminology. Not only every teacher of 18th-century American literature, politics, and history, but every constitutional lawyer and lay reader who cares about the Constitution, will need to have and study this essential book."- John Harmon McElroy Professor, American Literature University of Arizona

.,."A different kind of book....[that] captures the attention of serious students of constitutional law.... The Language of the Constitution is a most useful resource for tracing the evolution of the meanings of the controversial words and phrases of the constitution....Encyclopedia of the American Constitution: Supplement I, edited by Leonard W. Levy, and The Language of the Constitution are substantial achievements and splendid contributions to the imposing literature on the bicentennials of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights....[Greene's volume] will benefit the general public, constitutional lawyers, sitting jurists, academic scholars, and a variety of students."-Journal of American History

?...A different kind of book....[that] captures the attention of serious students of constitutional law.... The Language of the Constitution is a most useful resource for tracing the evolution of the meanings of the controversial words and phrases of the constitution....Encyclopedia of the American Constitution: Supplement I, edited by Leonard W. Levy, and The Language of the Constitution are substantial achievements and splendid contributions to the imposing literature on the bicentennials of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights....[Greene's volume] will benefit the general public, constitutional lawyers, sitting jurists, academic scholars, and a variety of students.?-Journal of American History

?[Greene] leads his reader into the public documents, speeches, letters and newspaper articles the framers were either familiar with or had at hand as they labored to build a system for governing the newborn nation. His objective is to help today's student understand such terms as 'aid and comfort' or 'faith and credit' as the 55 men who wrote the document understood them. This is an ambitious undertaking. . . . [The] author's determination to clear away the accretions of centuries of use and misuse from the words that define our government reveals a thoroughly modern outlook.?-Constitution

?As a sourcebook of the antecedents of the Constitution, this volume is matchless. . . . Valuable, unique, and rather remarkable.?-Appellate Practice Journal

?Greene's book is an immensely valuable resource. The Language of the Constitution is a remarkable book. It should be on the shelf of every lawyer involved in Constitutional litigation.?-Connecticut Bar Journal

?This book guides us through our national charter, on a constitutional walk as it were, with dozens of exploratory stopovers along the way, each corresponding to a prominent word or phrase in the Constitution. Thurston Greene peels back the language of the Constitution, and directs us to earlier usages of its majestic words and phrases.?-New York Law Journal

?What this book provides are examples of usage, not definitions, but it does this very well and will be of value to students and scholars.?-ARBA

..."A different kind of book....Ýthat¨ captures the attention of serious students of constitutional law.... The Language of the Constitution is a most useful resource for tracing the evolution of the meanings of the controversial words and phrases of the constitution....Encyclopedia of the American Constitution: Supplement I, edited by Leonard W. Levy, and The Language of the Constitution are substantial achievements and splendid contributions to the imposing literature on the bicentennials of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights....ÝGreene's volume¨ will benefit the general public, constitutional lawyers, sitting jurists, academic scholars, and a variety of students."-Journal of American History

"ÝGreene¨ leads his reader into the public documents, speeches, letters and newspaper articles the framers were either familiar with or had at hand as they labored to build a system for governing the newborn nation. His objective is to help today's student understand such terms as 'aid and comfort' or 'faith and credit' as the 55 men who wrote the document understood them. This is an ambitious undertaking. . . . ÝThe¨ author's determination to clear away the accretions of centuries of use and misuse from the words that define our government reveals a thoroughly modern outlook."-Constitution

"[Greene] leads his reader into the public documents, speeches, letters and newspaper articles the framers were either familiar with or had at hand as they labored to build a system for governing the newborn nation. His objective is to help today's student understand such terms as 'aid and comfort' or 'faith and credit' as the 55 men who wrote the document understood them. This is an ambitious undertaking. . . . [The] author's determination to clear away the accretions of centuries of use and misuse from the words that define our government reveals a thoroughly modern outlook."-Constitution

"As a sourcebook of the antecedents of the Constitution, this volume is matchless. . . . Valuable, unique, and rather remarkable."-Appellate Practice Journal

"Greene's book is an immensely valuable resource. The Language of the Constitution is a remarkable book. It should be on the shelf of every lawyer involved in Constitutional litigation."-Connecticut Bar Journal

"This book guides us through our national charter, on a constitutional walk as it were, with dozens of exploratory stopovers along the way, each corresponding to a prominent word or phrase in the Constitution. Thurston Greene peels back the language of the Constitution, and directs us to earlier usages of its majestic words and phrases."-New York Law Journal

"What this book provides are examples of usage, not definitions, but it does this very well and will be of value to students and scholars."-ARBA

..."A different kind of book....[that] captures the attention of serious students of constitutional law.... The Language of the Constitution is a most useful resource for tracing the evolution of the meanings of the controversial words and phrases of the constitution....Encyclopedia of the American Constitution: Supplement I, edited by Leonard W. Levy, and The Language of the Constitution are substantial achievements and splendid contributions to the imposing literature on the bicentennials of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights....[Greene's volume] will benefit the general public, constitutional lawyers, sitting jurists, academic scholars, and a variety of students."-Journal of American History

About the Author

THURSTON GREENE is a practicing attorney in Connecticut with a life-long concern for vital issues affecting the constitutional order of the United States.

STUART B. FLEXNER was an internationally famous lexicographer and author of numerous works on language, as well as the editor-in-chief of the reference department at Random House.

DOUGLAS M. ARNOLD is a professional historian, author, and documentary editor.

CHRISTOPHER COLLIER is the Connecticut State Historian.

DOMINICK EGAN is a professional legal researcher and freelance writer.