American Constitutionalism Heard Round the World, 1776-1989

by Billias, George Athan

• ISBN13: 9780814725177
• ISBN10: 0814725171
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-12-01
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

Winner of the 2010 Book Award from the New England Historical Association American constitutionalism represents this country's greatest gift to human freedom, yet its story remains largely untold. For over two hundred years, its ideals, ideas, and institutions influenced different peoples in different lands at different times. American constitutionalism and the revolutionary republican documents on which it is based affected countless countries by helping them develop their own constitutional democracies. Western constitutionalismof which America was a part along with Britain and Francereached a major turning point in global history in 1989, when the forces of democracy exceeded the forces of autocracy for the first time. Historian George Athan Billias traces the spread of American constitutionalismfrom Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean region, to Asia and Africabeginning chronologically with the American Revolution and the fateful "shot heard round the world" and ending with the conclusion of the Cold War in 1989. The American model contributed significantly by spearheading the drive to greater democracy throughout the Western world, and Billias's landmark study tells a story that will change the way readers view the important role American constitutionalism played during this era.

Author Biography

George Athan Billias is Jacob and Frances Hiatt Professor Emeritus of History at Clark University. His numerous books include American Constitutionalism Abroad, George Washington's Generals and Opponents, and Elbridge Gerry: Founding Father and Republican Statesman.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Preface	p. xi
Definitions
Of Constitutions and Constitutionalisms	p. 3
American Constitutionalism Defined: Six Seminal Documents	p. 15
Seven Echoes of American Constitutionalism: A Global Perspective
First Echo: Europe, 1776-1800	p. 53
Second Echo: Latin America, 1811-1900	p. 105
European Interlude, 1800-1848	p. 142
Third Echo: European Revolutions of 1848	p. 176
European Interlude, 1850-1900 and the American Civil War	p. 201
Fourth Echo: American Empire	p. 223
Fifth Echo: World War I to World War II, 1919-1945	p. 250
Sixth Echo: American Crescendo, 1945-1974	p. 276
Seventh Echo: American Constitutionalism and Democratization, 1974-1989	p. 320
Global Consciousness, Then and Now	p. 357
Appendix: A Note on the Historiography of the Influence of American Constitutionalism Abroad: 1776-1989	p. 373
Notes	p. 377
Index	p. 491
About the Author	p. 544
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.