Some time ago, a friend suggested that I read Power and Liberty by Gordon Wood for a better understanding of American constitutionalism. It was a good tip for which I’m grateful. I knew about Wood as a distinguished historian of the revolution and early republic, but had not seen his latest tour de force. This is a splendid little book that is well worth reading, especially for those of us interested in politics and those who are given to telling us what that hallowed document really means.
There are seven short chapters each with an insight about what happened between 1763 and 1787. Delivered initially as a series of lectures at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 2019, they are a distillation of Wood’s knowledge of the period acquired over a lifetime of study. As such, they show us what history is all about and help us navigate our way through the present.
The chapter on “State Constitution-Making” reveals that the yeoman work of working out constitutional principles was done at the colonial and state level before the questions ever got to the constitutional convention in Philadelphia. That is not to say that the document produced in 1787 was not a breakthrough or significant, but simply that many of the fundamental questions had already been debated ad nauseam at the state level. Much of how to keep power in check so as to preserve liberty had already been worked out. At the same time, it needs to be mentioned that many of the excesses of democracy were especially evident in state politics, a tradition that continues to this day.
Chapter 4 on the “Federal Constitution” is an excellent account of the give and take and the motivations of the delegates. In the end it was a compromise that disappointed some and frightened those who came to be called anti-federalists. It was not perfect and remains so, continuing to frustrate constitutional scholars and political activists who seek sanction from the document.
Most interesting is the discussion of the judiciary in Chapter 6. Much of what is heralded about American government as being a model worth emulating really is derived from the stability and sobriety of our judicial system. It has been a rock upon which Americans could look to justice, fair play and honest government. Here and around the world, it is this dedication to the rule of law that defines American society. Professor Wood gives us an appreciation of how and why we developed the idea of judicial review – the procedure by which the high court may pass on the constitutionality of legislative and executive decisions – as well how judges became independent and nonpartisan arbiters of the law.
Wood’s book reveals the many issues facing the early leaders who sought to come up with a viable and acceptable form of government. It was not easy then and continues to confound pundits and critics today. We need to understand and appreciate that truth is nonpartisan.