Original Meanings

From abortion to same-sex marriage, today’s most urgent political debates will hinge on one question: What did the United States Constitution originally mean and who understands its meaning best? In Original Meanings, Jack N. Rakove chronicles the Constitution from inception to ratification and in so doing traces its complex weave of ideology and interest, showing us how that document meant different things to different groups of Americans at different moments of its creation.

Whether he is reopening the issues that the Constitution’s framers tried to solve or reanimating the personalities of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, Rakove writes lucidly, incisively, and with an eye fixed on the contraversies that continue to rage around the Constitution.