Interpreting the Founding: Guide to the Enduring Debates Over the Origins and Foundations of the American Republic

by Alan Gibson

Now widely regarded as the best available guide to the study of the Founding, the first edition of Interpreting the Founding provided summaries and analyses of the leading interpretive frameworks that have guided the study of the Founding since the publication of Charles Beard's An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution in 1913. For this new edition, Gibson has revised and updated his study, including his comprehensive bibliography, and also added a new concluding chapter on the "Unionist Paradigm" or "Federalist Interpretation" of the Constitution.

As in the original work, Gibson argues in the new edition that scholarship on the Founding is no longer steered by a single dominant approach or even by a set of questions that control its direction. He features insightful extended discussions of pioneering works by leading scholars of the Founding—including Louis Hartz, Bernard Bailyn, Gordon Wood, and Garry Wills—that best exemplify different schools of interpretation. He focuses on six approaches that have dominated the modern study of the Founding-Progressive, Lockean/liberal, Republican, Scottish Enlightenment, multicultural, and multiple traditions approaches—before concluding with the Unionist or Federalist paradigm. For each approach, Gibson traces its fundamental assumptions, revealing deeper ideological and methodological differences between schools of thought that, on the surface, seem to differ only about the interpretation of historical facts.

While previous accounts have treated the study of the Founding as the sequential replacement of one paradigm by another, Gibson argues that all of these interpretations survive as alternative and still viable approaches. By examining the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and showing how each has simultaneously illuminated and masked core truths about the American Founding, he renders a balanced account of the continuing and very vigorous debate over the origins and foundations of the American republic.

Brimming with intellectual vigor and a based on both a wide and deep reading in the voluminous literature on the subject, Gibson's new edition is sure to reinforce this remarkable book's reputation while winning new converts to his argument.

Genres: History

246 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2006

Reviews

[Andrew Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a marvelous work that delineates all of the interpretations of the founding of the American government under the Constitution. Gibson takes time to chart out the various themes of each school of interpretation without interposing his own views to any great extent. By doing this, he achieves what a historian and student of political science is supposed to do. By laying out the facts, he allows the reader to decide what they think is important in each interpretation. This is the hallmark of a great professional who values the time, work, and energy employed in constructing a viable study of our political system. I highly recommend this book and its successor for anyone who wants to understand how our unique form of government was created.

[Nunya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the easiest read, but nonetheless interesting. Gives diverging perspectives regarding the ways that the American founding can be interpreted. A bit like a textbook.

[Sandra Oldfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult read as I got into the later chapters but a very well researched book

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well conceived, poorly written.
This book is jam-packed with information, but the writing style is so pretentious that the information it offers is nearly inaccessible even with immense effort. Gibson's sentences stumble on and on to the point where you don't really even remember what he was saying in the first place. I found myself spending more time trying to interpret what it was he wrote with his forced SAT vocabulary than actually learning the interesting theories the book has to offer.

[Michael Hattem · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is indispensable for Early American History majors either undergraduate or graduate. In this book, along with his companion volume, Understanding the Founding, Gibson gives the most concise account of Colonial/Revolutionary era historiography available. He details each of the major schools of thought while also challenging each interpretation. It is without a doubt the best introduction to the history of Revolutionary era scholarship in America. If you are an undergraduate history major and want a better understanding of the way historians have interpreted the Revolution in order to improve your knowledge and essays then this book is for you. If you are a graduate student, this book will either introduce you to important strains in American historiography or refresh your memory. Gibson's writing is very accessible for such a scholarly subject and I highly recommend both books.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are good books on historiography. This is not one of them. The sentences in this book are clumsy.

It is a solid workmanlike book, I suppose, even if the author's biases show quite a lot -- I take it Gibson does not like the multiple traditions or minority approaches? Because he seems really hostile to them.

I'd suggest this as something to keep around as a reference, maybe, for someone who's already familiar with the Founding and wants to contextualize some of the modern essays on it. But don't, you know, *read* the actual book.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid introduction to the world of interpreting the American founding. It is a quick read, only 100 pages, but it also offers 50 pages of valuable footnotes - essentially a bibliography on each school of interpretation. I think I will use this in my undergrad courses, but I will mix it in with some actual literature or articles from each interpretive school because I think it may be too condensed for an uninitiated reader.