03766oam 22004934a 450 991048200770332120230621140028.00-7006-3116-X(CKB)5600000000000321(OCoLC)1252814986(MdBmJHUP)muse95560(oapen)https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/88521(EXLCZ)99560000000000032120010817d1993 uy 0engur|||||||nn|ntxtrdacontentcrdamediacrrdacarrierGeorge Washington and American ConstitutionalismUniversity Press of Kansas1993Lawrence, Kan. :University Press of Kansas,1993.©1993.1 online resource (x, 245 p.)American political thought0-7006-0683-1 0-7006-0564-9 Known as the Father of His Country, George Washington is viewed as a demigod for what he was and did, not what he thought. In addition to being a popular icon for the forces of American nationalism, he served as commanderinchief of the victorious Continental Army. That he played a key role in securing the adoption of the Constitution is well known, but few credit him with a political philosophy that actively shaped the constitutional tradition.In this revisionist study, Glenn Phelps argues that Washington's political thought influenced the principles informing the federal government then and now. Disinclined to enter the debates by which the framers hammered out a consensus, Washington instead sought to promote his way of thinking through private correspondence, and the example of his public life. From these sources Phelps draws out his political ideas and demonstrates that Washington developed a coherent and consistent view of a republican government on a continental scale long before Madison, Hamilton, and other nationalistsa view grounded in classically conservative republicanism and continentallyminded commercialism. That he was only partially successful in building the constitutional system that he intended does not undercut his theoretical contribution. Even his failures affected the way our constitutional tradition developed.Phelps examines Washington's political ideas not as they were perceived by his contemporaries but in his own words, that is, he shows what Washington believed, not what others thought he believed. He shows how Washington's political values remained consistent over time, regardless of who his counselors or "ghost writers" were. Using letters Washington wrote to friends and family—written free from the constraints of public politics—Phelps reveals "a man with a passionate commitment to a fully developed idea of a constitutional republic on a continental scale."In recent years scholarship about Washington has seemed to focus on mythmaking. For readers interested in the founding period, the framing of what Hamilton called the "frail fabric," and constitutionalism, Phelps explores the substance behind the myth.Politics and governmentfast(OCoLC)fst01919741Constitutional historyfast(OCoLC)fst00875777Constitutional historyUnited StatesUnited StatesfastUnited StatesPolitics and government1783-1809Politics and governmentConstitutional history.Constitutional history973.4/1/092Phelps Glenn A1948-1025644MdBmJHUPMdBmJHUPBOOK9910482007703321George Washington and American Constitutionalism2439196UNINA