ENOUGH WISE MEN: The Story of Our Constitution

by Forrest McDonald ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1970

Mr. McDonald has a point: that ""a more perfect union"" was established only after an imperfect confederation had failed, and with less ease than is implied by the leap from Revolution to Constitution in many texts. But he overstates and misstates, overdraws and descends to invective to make his point. At the outset--""The Americans, in contrast with the robotlike brutes that made up European armies, were clever, cunning, resourceful fighting men""--while the Revolution appears as a contest hampered by the Continental Congress and waged more between noble and nefarious colonists than between British and Americans (""In this stormy night of stupidity and villainy, there began to dawn a new hope. . .""). Thus Benedict Arnold's defection--twice excused--is once ascribed to his not being credited with the victory at Saratoga (Gates is defamed throughout), later to his ""disgust"" at Congress' lack of financial support for the troops. Inconsistency aside, this is not nearly the whole story; neither do we learn what Congress could and did do, either during or after the war (like adopt the Northwest Ordinance) along with what it couldn't and didn't do; nor of adversities (like economic depression) not due to weak government. Irrelevant and irresponsible swats abound: rating post-Revolutionary conditions in the states, ""New Hampshirites had a reputation, which was not entirely unjustified, for being drunken and lazy, but they logged and fished and enjoyed themselves, paying no attention to what people thought."" So are egregious and not irrelevant inaccuracies: Washington and Madison--whose role is omitted--conceived of the Potomac--control conference as a step toward strengthening not splintering the federation, as it was--just as the two were leading advocates of a stronger union. By the time you get there, credibility is cancelled out.

Pub Date: March 1, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION