OUSD | De Tocqueville's Ghost : American History Project

“Seasons of Discontent: The Constitution in its Social and Cultural Context”
Caroline H. Cox, Department of History
University of the Pacific

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Caroline H. Cox link is Assistant Professor of history at the University of the Pacific. Educated at University of California Berkeley, her publications include: A Proper Sense of Honor: The Status of Soldiers and Officers of The Continental Army, 1775-1783 (forthcoming from the University of North Carolina Press) and "Invisible Wounds: The American Legion, Shell Shocked Veterans, and Mental Illness, 1919-1924." In Traumatic Pasts: Studies in History, Psychiatry, and Trauma in the Modern Age, 1860-1930, eds. Mark Micale and Paul Lerner. Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Readings
* Links active as of January 2004

Virginia constitution 1776
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/va05.htm
Pennsylvania constitution 1776
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/pa08.htm
Articles of confederation 1776
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/contcong/07-12-76.htm
Amendments 1-10 of the Constitution (Bill of Rights)
http://memory.loc.gov/const/bor.html
Collection ofcurrent state constitutions
http://www.law.cornell.edu/states
Records of US Congress & Senate, including all the Journals of the Continental Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/

The following titles survey current opinions about the historical debates on the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

Countryman, Edward, What did the Constitution Mean to Early Americans?
link to Amazon
Ellis, Joseph J. , What did the Declaration Declare?
link to Amazon
Rakove, Jack N. Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution link to Amazon

Useful Classroom Films

Liberty, PBS, 1997, Episode 6
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/series/index.html
In Search of the Constitution, Published/Produced: New York : Public Affairs Television, Inc., 1987 : Distributed by PBS Video, 1989. Description: 11 videocassettes (58 min. ea.) In an eleven-part series, Bill Moyers discusses the history of the Constitution, how it has been interpreted, and how it affects nearly every aspect of our lives.
Empire of Reason First Run?Icarius Films, 1988 http://www.frif.com Debates over ratification of the Constitution in New York acted out as a modern TV political campaign.
1776 Columbia/Tristar, 1987. Based on the Tony award-winning Broadway musical about the Declaration of Independence.
http://www.5thavenuetheatre.org/archive/