America and Enlightenment Constitutionalism

Johnathan O'Neill is Assistant Professor of History at Georgia Southern University, and the author of Originalism in American Law and Politics: A Constitutional History (2005).Gary McDowell is Professor, Jepson School of Leadership, University of Richmond.

In a provincial city near a rude frontier, the American founders designed a form of republican government that enabled their distant outpost to become the mightiest polity since ancient Rome. Not mere fortune but a science of politics made this happen; not prayer alone, but enlightenment. The able authors of this diverse set of essays explain and exemplify the learning behind American constitutionalism, not as historical curiosity, but as living knowledge. In the spirit of enlightenment, their perspective on the Founding is reflective rather than celebratory - respectful of the Founders' achievement, but not afraid to criticize what enlightenment itself has become. There is much to ponder here, and much to admire. - James R. Stoner, Jr., Professor of Political Science, Louisiana State University O'Neill and McDowell have brought together elegant essays by leading authorities that convincingly reveal the profound impact of the Enlightenment on the drafting of the American Constitution. These essays demonstrate that the Framers' emphasis on natural rights and equality, their reliance on constitutional structure to secure liberty, and their faith that good government could be established on 'reflection and choice' all stemmed from the spirit of free inquiry and innovation that the Enlightenment imbued in them. - Ralph A. Rossum, Salvatori Professor of American Constitutionalism, Claremont McKenna College This collection of essays by leading scholars of American political thought provides a penetrating and timely reassessment of the enduring philosophical foundations of America's unique contribution to modern constitutionalism. - Herman Belz, Professor of History, University of Maryland Original and invigorating. - David Peddle, Memorial University, Newfoundland (Canada)

• Introduction - Gary L. McDowell &Johnathan O'Neill Part I: Enlightenment Philosophy and Constitutionalism Recovering (From) Enlightenment? - Steven D. Smith The Positivization of Natural Rights - Martin Loughlin Epicureanism and the Enlightenment - Frederick Rosen Preface to Liberalism: Locke's First Treatise and the Bible - Robert Faulkner Montesquieu and the Constitution of Liberty - Paul A. Rahe Part II: The Enlightenment and the Constitution in America The American Enlightenment - Gordon S. Wood Enlightenment and Experience: The Virginia Constitution of 1776 - Colin Bonwick Nation-Making and the American Constitutional Process - J.R. Pole Ticklish Experiments: The Paradox of American Constitutionalism - Jack Rakove James Madison and the Idea of Fundamental Law - C. Bradley Thompson