The Origins of American Constitutionalism (Bibliographies in the History of)

The primary thesis of Donald Lutz in his book The Origins of American Constitutionalism is that the authors of US Constitution drew on many sources: Biblical (for the theory and form of covenants), English Common Law, the unwritten English constitution, the political principles of the English Whigs, theoretical and philosophical writings from the European Enlightenment (especially those of Montesquieu, Hume, Locke and Blackstone), and the 150 years of prior colonial heritage documents in the form of colonial charters, compacts, covenants, and constitutions. Lutz makes a strong case that the colonial heritage documents are both the dominant and an often overlooked source. The following notes outline, I hope, some of the major points in his book.The royal charters issued to colonists, starting with Virginia in 1607, were the king's declaration to the colonists of their rights and responsibilities to him. The colonists typically drafted a compact or covenant (e.g., the Mayflower Compact), an agreement among themselves, defining how they would govern themselves in accordance with the royal charters. This early phase of self-government was typically by means of a representative assembly that evolved from the body that wrote the compact/covenant. As the colonies grew in population, the king subsequently appointed royal governors, and the colonists' self-governing bodies became extra-governmental bodies representing the colonists' interests to the royal governors. As these colonial bodies became more formalized, their organizational rules also became more formalized, evolving into prototype colonial constitutions, as the colonial bodies evolved from extra-governmental bodies into governmental bodies.The early colonial charters were issued by Kings James I and Charles I, the early Stuart absolutists who were devoted to the doctrine of the divine right of kings. These charters made no mention of parliament as having any authority over the colonies. Subsequently, in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, parliament replaced the king as the ultimate sovereign of England. However, the prior royal colonial charters were not modified to reflect this change in sovereignty. Consequently, the colonists in the 1770s felt fully justified in resisting the laws of parliament.In making his case for the primacy of the early colonial constitutional documents, Lutz notes that 20% of the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution can be traced directly to Magna Carta, 75% to the pre-1689 colonial documents.The European Enlightenment writers cited above were not yet born at the time that the early colonial documents were written. The authors of the US Constitution undoubtedly used some of their arguments to support their proposed form of government, but the form itself came primarily from the indigenous colonial documents.At the time of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the states already existed, the convention delegates were selected by the states as their representatives, and the draft constitution they produced was submitted to the states for ratification. Consequently, federalism, the dual sovereignty of the states and federal governments, was a foregone conclusion. The states were unlikely to vote themselves out of existence.Lutz's book was heavy reading, lots of theory and philosophy, but well worth the effort. I recommend it to anyone seriously interested in understanding the basis for the American constitutional structure.

This 170 page book manages to cover the origins of the American Constitution more completely than any other work I have read.The author, Donald S. Lutz, convincingly demonstrates the sources of the American Constitutional ideas. The sources are not at all what I was taught in school. When mentioned at all, constitutional ideas like separation of powers and three branches of government were linked to a few European philosphers like Locke and Montesquieu;Lutz convincingly shows that not only are the ideas on government contained in the Constitution uniquely American, but that the whole idea of constitutionalism is an American invention. In 1787 the only written Constitutions that existed in the world were the Federal US Constitution and the 13 State Constitutions.Even the Bill of Rights contains mostly rights elucidated and developed by the Americans. Lutz points out that of the 27 rights in the US Bill of Rights only 6 were first found in Magna Carta. 75% of these rights were found in American documents prior to the English Bill of Rights in 1689 or the writings of John Locke. While even now most texts will attribute to John Locke the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", the origins of these ideas came from much earlier American documents.For example, from the Massachusetts laws of 1641 (Locke was only 9 years old at the time), we read "No mans life shall be taken away... no mans person shall be arrested.... no mans goods or estate shall be taken away..." Life, liberty and property as rights were first written here from John Cotton and Nathaniel Ward and the Puritans who found them in the Bible and implicit in the English Common Law; Locke had nothing to do with it.Another aspect that Lutz covers well is the transition from covenant theology to constitutional government. Lutz also notes the US Constitution was written after 150 years of experieince in self-government and after all 13 states writing their Constitutions. Experience was the main source of most government institutions; not European philosphy, though the founders often cited then-current philosphers like Locke and others.In short, this is an excellent, scholarly work that will educate the reader more than all the college history, political science classes and poorly-researched wikipedia articles put together. Highly recommended. As the author wrote near the end of the book, "The origins of the American Constitution, like the constitutional tradition of which it is a part, are complex and manifold, but ultimately planted firmly in American soil."

I have always believed in the literal words of the Constitution and that it has the same literal meaning as it did when written. I wanted to read more about the authors thoughts and ideas which brought about the final document.

Wonderful book for anyone interested in the roots of our nation (U.S.) I have a much deeper understanding of the underlying ideas and processes necessary to preserve in order to maintain our light to the world.However...the pages kept falling apart. I ordered a new copy hoping it was a one-off, but after getting the replacement, had the same problems. The pages are not well connected to the spine and keep falling out.

This is a fascinating and valuable book. There are a number of scholars who have studied American constitutional history who have made major contributions--Forrest McDonald, Bernard Bailyn, and--in this book--Donald Lutz.He explores the various elements that shaped the American Constitution. He develops a rich data base. Among these documents--colonial constitutions, state constitutions after the revolution, charters, covenants (religious documents), and pamphlets and sermons. Pulling these various sources together, he presents a story of the roots of the Constitution, He also discusses the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.One very important chapter explores the people to whom the Founding Fathers referred. There were changes with time. Sources included the Bible (as a result of sermons), radical Whigs in England (Trenchard and Gordon), Enlightenment thinkers (Locke and Hume), English common law, and the classics (Greek and Roman sources).All in all, a fascinating examination of the roots of the American Constitution. . . .