Paper Summary:

The paper provides a comparison between the descriptions of the process, goals, and results of the Constitutional Convention authored by Carol Berkin in "A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution" and the same descriptions presented by Robert Middlekauff in "The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789". The paper focuses on these books' content, presentation of the material, introduction into the Constitutional Convention and approaches to the subject matter.

Outline:
Introduction
Comparison: Berkin and Middlekauff

From the Paper:

"What actually transpired was that the American political system had allowed the Supreme Court to basically elect Bush, 5-4 (five Republicans and four Democrats). And one wonders what Patrick Henry, John Adams and Richard Henry Lee among other delegates to the convention would have said - if they had a crystal ball and could see into the year 2000 - about the U.S. Supreme Court trumping the Florida Supreme Court's power. Berkin writes on page 17 that Henry, Adams and Lee were "Americans when they contrasted themselves with the citizens, government officials, and soldiers of England." But at home, they were "Virginians, New Jerseyites, Connecticut men." Clearly the state's rights were important to a group of highly educated men who had just helped win the Revolutionary War and hence they had shed the shackles of powerful central government in England.
"In 2000 it was state's rights being snuffed out by the federal power structure when the U.S. High Court cut off the recounting of ballots in Florida (ordered by the Florida Supreme Court) that might have given Al Gore a victory. Later, in November 2001, the technical re-counts (by the National Opinion Research Center) showed Gore might have actually may have won if "overvotes" were taken into consideration."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Berkin, Carol. (2002). A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution. New York: Harcourt, Inc.
• Middlekauff, Robert. (1982). The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789.New York: Oxford University Press.

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