• Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution

  • By: Woody Holton
  • Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
  • Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (25 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution  By  cover art

Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution

By: Woody Holton
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Average Americans were the true framers of the Constitution.

Woody Holton upends what we think we know of the Constitution's origins by telling the history of the average Americans who challenged the framers of the Constitution and forced on them the revisions that produced the document we now venerate.

The framers who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 were determined to reverse America's post-Revolutionary War slide into democracy. They believed too many middling Americans exercised too much influence over state and national policies. That the framers were only partially successful in curtailing citizen rights is due to the reaction, sometimes violent, of unruly average Americans.

If not to protect civil liberties and the freedom of the people, what motivated the framers? In Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution, Holton provides the startling discovery that the primary purpose of the Constitution was, simply put, to make America more attractive to investment. The linchpin to that endeavor was taking power away from the states and ultimately away from the people.

In an eye-opening interpretation of the Constitution, Holton captures how the same class of Americans that produced Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts (and rebellions in damn near every other state) produced the Constitution we now revere.

Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution is a 2007 National Book Award finalist for nonfiction.

©2007 Woody Holton (P)2018 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    16
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A different approach

A different look at background and sausage making that led to our Constitution and Bill of Rights. A bit repetitive but still quite informative.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very good book.

A very good book. Well researched and a great read. I have both the hard back and now the audible copy. I have listened to it three times while I travel and require readings from it for my high school students.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Lots of data and wrong interpretations.

Excellent research. But left-populist bias permeates every line and offers nothing but straw men as the arguments against his thesis.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!