Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13864 in Books
• Published on: 1986-09-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 346 pages

Customer Reviews

Miracle at Philadelphia is a good popular history of the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787
Catherine Drinker Bowen's "Miracle at Philadelphia" was first published in 1966. It has been reprinted and widely used in classrooms ever since that time. The book is well written in an easy to understand style which will aid the reader who wants a first hand account of how our nation's foundational document The Constitution was given birth. The Bill of Rights and the other amendments were not added to the key document until several years later.
The convention consisted of 55 delegates representing every state but Rhode Island. This smallest of states was anti-federalist and refused to send a delegate to sweltering hot Philadelphia in the late spring of 1787. The convention was charged with replacing the Articles of Confederation which had been in place since the end of the American Revolution. The Articles led to confusion over money being issued by each state; questions about a standing army and failed to quell such rebellion's against the central goverment as that of Shay's in Mass.
The debates were hotly fought and compromise over issues became key to the success of the Constitution. The presiding officer was hero General George Washington. Also present was the President of Pennyslvania Benjamin Franklin and the father of the Constitution James Madison of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were not there serving as respectively US ambassadors to France and Great Britain.
The Constitution divided the strong central government into three branches of judicial, legislative and executive. It was decided to give the people of America proportional representation in the House of Representatives with elections held every two years. Each state was to be given two senators regardless of the state's size. Senators were to be elected every six years. The President of the US was to be elected every four years. Slaves and Native Americans were considered as 3/5 of a white voter in the proportioning of representatives. State governments were given freedom but the national government was to be surpeme. Washington DC was selected as the site for the national capital.
After months of debate the Constitution was made public on September 17, 1787. It went to the states for ratification winning quick approval.
Votes in the states were close on approving the Constitution especially in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York. Thankfully the Constitution won approval and made America a strong nation through national unity.
Throughout the work Ms. Bowen relishes descriptions of how the delegates dressed, talked and did in their political careers. She also takes us on a tour of late eighteenth century America. Anyone interested in early American history and government should read this excellent book!

LAYMAN'S GUIDE OF MOST SIGNIFICANT DOCUEMENT IN POLITICAL HISTORY
I recommend this book for those who have not been exposed to early american history and the founding of our political way of life. In todays presidential election climate this help to delineate the behind scenes forces that shape political thought and the impact these ideas have on our future direction.

Dry as the Nevada Desert
I was forced to buy and read this book for an American History class and I KNOW some may say that I am biased because I was required to read this book, but I must say, it is absolutly horrible. As a journalism major I found this book very hard to read. Every chapter talks about the same thing. The delegates can't decide on anything, everything is based on property and nothing is resolved. (well, until the end, obviously) Perhaps that is how the real constitutional convention happened, but i don't need to read the same thing over and over for 200 pages. Often, the author side tracks on little tid bits of personal information about the delegates that seem totally unrealted to the story at the time. Unless you are a seventy year old man, I don't think you will find this book interesting at all.