The American Constitutional Tradition

Colonial Charters, Covenants, and Revolutionary State Constitutions, 1578–1780

H. Lowell Brown

The book is a work of non-fiction. The book is a historical analysis of the evolution of a uniquely American constitutionalism that began with the original English royal charters for the exploration and exploitation of North America. When the U.S. Constitution was written in 1787, the accepted conception of a constitution was that of the British constitution, upon which the colonists had relied in asserting their rights with respect to the imperium, comprised of ancient documents, parliamentary enactments, administrative regulations, judicial pronouncements, and established custom. Of equal significance, the laws comprising the constitution did not differ from other statutes and as a consequence, there was no law endowed with greater sanctity than other legislative enactments.

In framing the revolutionary state constitutions following the retreat of the crown governments in the colonies, as well as the later federal Constitution, the Revolutionaries fundamentally reconceived a constitution as being the single authoritative source of fundamental law that was superior to all other statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions, that was ratified by the states and that was subject to revision only through a formal amendment process. This new constitutional conception has been hailed as the great innovation of the revolutionary period, and deservedly so.

This American constitutionalism had its origins in the now largely overlooked royal charters for the exploration of North America beginning with the charter granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert by Elizabeth I in 1578. The book follows the development of this constitutional tradition from the early charters of the Virginia Companies and the covenants entered of the New England colonies, through the proprietary charters of the Middle Atlantic colonies. On the basis of those foundational documents, the colonists fashioned governments that came to be comprised not only of an executive, but an elected legislature and a judiciary. In those foundational documents and in the acts of the colonial legislatures, the settlers sought to harmonize their aspirations for just institutions and individual rights with the exigencies and imperatives of an alien and often hostile environment. When the colonies faced the withdrawal of the crown governments in 1775, they drew on their experience, which they formalized in written constitutions. This uniquely American constitutional tradition of the charters, covenants and state constitutions was the foundation of the federal Constitution and of the process by which the Constitution was written and ratified a decade later.

University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Pages: 252 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-68393-047-1 • Hardback • May 2017 • $123.00 • (£95.00)

978-1-68393-049-5 • Paperback • June 2019 • $50.99 • (£39.00)

978-1-68393-048-8 • eBook • May 2017 • $48.00 • (£37.00)

Series: The Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Series in Law, Culture, and the Humanities

Subjects: History / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800), History / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775), History / United States / State & Local / General

The American Constitutional Tradition

Colonial Charters, Covenants, and Revolutionary State Constitutions, 1578–1780

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

The book is a work of non-fiction. The book is a historical analysis of the evolution of a uniquely American constitutionalism that began with the original English royal charters for the exploration and exploitation of North America. When the U.S. Constitution was written in 1787, the accepted conception of a constitution was that of the British constitution, upon which the colonists had relied in asserting their rights with respect to the imperium, comprised of ancient documents, parliamentary enactments, administrative regulations, judicial pronouncements, and established custom. Of equal significance, the laws comprising the constitution did not differ from other statutes and as a consequence, there was no law endowed with greater sanctity than other legislative enactments.

In framing the revolutionary state constitutions following the retreat of the crown governments in the colonies, as well as the later federal Constitution, the Revolutionaries fundamentally reconceived a constitution as being the single authoritative source of fundamental law that was superior to all other statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions, that was ratified by the states and that was subject to revision only through a formal amendment process. This new constitutional conception has been hailed as the great innovation of the revolutionary period, and deservedly so.

This American constitutionalism had its origins in the now largely overlooked royal charters for the exploration of North America beginning with the charter granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert by Elizabeth I in 1578. The book follows the development of this constitutional tradition from the early charters of the Virginia Companies and the covenants entered of the New England colonies, through the proprietary charters of the Middle Atlantic colonies. On the basis of those foundational documents, the colonists fashioned governments that came to be comprised not only of an executive, but an elected legislature and a judiciary. In those foundational documents and in the acts of the colonial legislatures, the settlers sought to harmonize their aspirations for just institutions and individual rights with the exigencies and imperatives of an alien and often hostile environment. When the colonies faced the withdrawal of the crown governments in 1775, they drew on their experience, which they formalized in written constitutions. This uniquely American constitutional tradition of the charters, covenants and state constitutions was the foundation of the federal Constitution and of the process by which the Constitution was written and ratified a decade later.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Pages: 252 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-68393-047-1 • Hardback • May 2017 • $123.00 • (£95.00)

978-1-68393-049-5 • Paperback • June 2019 • $50.99 • (£39.00)

978-1-68393-048-8 • eBook • May 2017 • $48.00 • (£37.00)

Series: The Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Series in Law, Culture, and the Humanities

Subjects: History / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800), History / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775), History / United States / State & Local / General

Author

H. Lowell Brown is an attorney and historian.

Table of Contents

Part IConstitutionalism in Colonial America, 1578 To 1775
Foreword
Chapter 1The Enterprise Colony of Virginia
Chapter 2The Covenant Colonies of New England
Chapter 3The Proprietary Colonies of The Mid-Atlantic
Chapter 4The Emergence of the American Constitutional Tradition in the Age of the Imperium
Part IIRevolutionary Constitutionalism
Chapter 5The Quest for Federal Union
Chapter 6The Revolutionary State Constitutions
Chapter 7The American Constitutional Tradition in The Revolutionary Era
Bibliography

Reviews

Attorney Brown argues that the American constitutional tradition derived from the legacy of Colonial charters, Colonial covenants, and Revolutionary-era state constitutions, all of which contributed to a body of constitutional law distinct from its British counterpart. The British constitution drew from a wide range of written and unwritten law that changed and evolved over time at the will of the legislature. In contrast, the American written constitution of 1787 established primacy over any legislative act and stands above the work of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. However, the Founders did not build their new constitution out of nothing. In crafting Colonial charters and state constitutions, Americans had already diverged from the British tradition of an uncodified constitution. In doing so, they adopted a more circumscribed form of constitutional government that limited authority by enumerating specific powers…. Summing Up: Recommended. Professionals.
— Choice Reviews