Joseph M. Lynch is Professor of Law Emeritus at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Lynch looks to the first six Congresses to see how those who framed and ratified the Constitution actually understood it in practice; in the process, he provides a rich history of the constitutional tugs-of-war in the early republic... Lynch concludes that, because the founders themselves could not agree on the original intention behind the Constitution's most important provisions, then one need not bother with a search for that intention.(Times Literary Supplement) Lynch succeeds in painting a vivid picture of the hypocrisy that often reigned among political elites during a crucial period in American history.(Choice) Throughout his book Lynch ably chops logic and tests positions for their fit with the Constitution's text, the debates over framing and ratification, and the stands that the same men took on other occasions... The book offers a provocative dose of lawyer's history.(The Journal of American History) This book is well-informed and remarkably exhaustive.(American Historical Review) Lynch's careful attention to the host of constitutional arguments raised in controversies both great and small reveals an interesting,... highly informative, and... deeply engaging story. Anyone interested in the constitutional controversies of the early Republic or in the details of James Madison's career in Congress would do well to read Negotiating the Constitution.(The Law and Politics Book Review) Joseph M. Lynch... has made an important scholarly contribution to the debate over the meaning of the Constitution. Negotiating the Constitution is a carefully researched and lively book which argues that the immediate political concerns of the Framers colored their more principled goals of creating and implementing a workable constitution.(Rhetoric and Public Affairs)

Joseph M. Lynch is Professor of Law Emeritus at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Lynch looks to the first six Congresses to see how those who framed and ratified the Constitution actually understood it in practice; in the process, he provides a rich history of the constitutional tugs-of-war in the early republic... Lynch concludes that, because the founders themselves could not agree on the original intention behind the Constitution's most important provisions, then one need not bother with a search for that intention.(Times Literary Supplement) Lynch succeeds in painting a vivid picture of the hypocrisy that often reigned among political elites during a crucial period in American history.(Choice) Throughout his book Lynch ably chops logic and tests positions for their fit with the Constitution's text, the debates over framing and ratification, and the stands that the same men took on other occasions... The book offers a provocative dose of lawyer's history.(The Journal of American History) This book is well-informed and remarkably exhaustive.(American Historical Review) Lynch's careful attention to the host of constitutional arguments raised in controversies both great and small reveals an interesting,... highly informative, and... deeply engaging story. Anyone interested in the constitutional controversies of the early Republic or in the details of James Madison's career in Congress would do well to read Negotiating the Constitution.(The Law and Politics Book Review) Joseph M. Lynch... has made an important scholarly contribution to the debate over the meaning of the Constitution. Negotiating the Constitution is a carefully researched and lively book which argues that the immediate political concerns of the Framers colored their more principled goals of creating and implementing a workable constitution.(Rhetoric and Public Affairs)

Joseph M. Lynch is Professor of Law Emeritus at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Lynch looks to the first six Congresses to see how those who framed and ratified the Constitution actually understood it in practice; in the process, he provides a rich history of the constitutional tugs-of-war in the early republic... Lynch concludes that, because the founders themselves could not agree on the original intention behind the Constitution's most important provisions, then one need not bother with a search for that intention.(Times Literary Supplement) Lynch succeeds in painting a vivid picture of the hypocrisy that often reigned among political elites during a crucial period in American history.(Choice) Throughout his book Lynch ably chops logic and tests positions for their fit with the Constitution's text, the debates over framing and ratification, and the stands that the same men took on other occasions... The book offers a provocative dose of lawyer's history.(The Journal of American History) This book is well-informed and remarkably exhaustive.(American Historical Review) Lynch's careful attention to the host of constitutional arguments raised in controversies both great and small reveals an interesting,... highly informative, and... deeply engaging story. Anyone interested in the constitutional controversies of the early Republic or in the details of James Madison's career in Congress would do well to read Negotiating the Constitution.(The Law and Politics Book Review) Joseph M. Lynch... has made an important scholarly contribution to the debate over the meaning of the Constitution. Negotiating the Constitution is a carefully researched and lively book which argues that the immediate political concerns of the Framers colored their more principled goals of creating and implementing a workable constitution.(Rhetoric and Public Affairs)