Forrest McDonald (1927–2016)

5811. Novus Ordo Seclorum The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution by Forrest McDonald (read 21 Nov 2022) This book, published in 1985, purports to tell the Intellectual reasonings of the authors of the Constitution, delving into their reasoning and detailing the arguments they made at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. He sets out the arguments made by the delegates , so far as he can deduce them. The author has right-wing leanings but that does not unduly influence his show more account. As I read, it was my feeling that the way the Constitution ended up being adopted was better than what some delegates proposed. The early part of the book was not too interesting to me, but when it got to relating the actual arguments the book became more interesting. None of the amendments to the Constitution are discussed and as we know some of them improved the document adopted after the 1787 Convention. show less

Forrest McDonald is one of my favorite historians. He wrote extensively on the Early Republic time period over his long career. Despite the fame of the Chernow biography of Hamilton, McDonald's older work is, in my humble opinion, a better one.

An excellent read, and an excellent look into the makings of the Constitution. McDonald looks into the ideologies of politics and economics of a wide range of members of the founding generation, as well as how they came together to write a practical compromise in the form of the Constitution.

One of the Best books of it's kind

In the 1920s and 30s socialism was all the rage among the "literate" types in US universities as well as Universities world-wide. A writer named Charles Beard made a name for himself in the field of American historiography by claiming that the Founders wrote the Constitution based only on their avarice and greed, that economics was the sole reason that the country was formed. And it was an economics of exclusion, greed and elitism that they created, too. show more Beard was an avowed socialist and communist and his agenda was to knock down the USA's reputation as the democratic light of the world a few pegs, if not to totally destroy it. He succeeded for several decades.

Then came Forrest McDonald..

In 1965, McDonald shattered that anti-American, socialist paradigm. In his two most important books, E Pluribus Unum and Novus Oedo Seclorum, he revealed the philosophical influences as well as the economic ones that guided the minds of the Founders and their contemporaries. And exclusion, elitism and avarice were not some of those principles and philosophies.

McDonald's works are easily read by one not historically versed and clearly laid out. They are a must read if you want an introduction to early American thinkers and their goals and influences. show less