This book focus on the various constitutional problems surrounding the need to provide both enough union and public authority to guarantee defense and order, and a sufficient degree of individual liberty to satisfy the demands and expectations of private citizens who were wary of the arbitrary powers of government.

Acknowledgements Contributors Introduction David Thomas Konig 1. Political economy and the creation of the Federal Republic Lance Banning 2. The expanding union Peter S. Onuf 3. Land and liberty on the post-revolutionary frontier Alan Taylor 4. The meaning of freedom for waterfront workers Paul A. Gilie 5. The ideas of an informed citizenry in the Early Republic Richard D. Brown 6. Jurisprudence and social policy in the New Republic David Thomas Konig 7. From the bonds of empire to the bonds of matrimony Norma Basch 8. The second great awakening and the market revolution Nathan O. Hatch 9. The problem of slavery in Southern political discourse Jan Lewis Abbreviations Notes Index.