American Constitution-Making: The Neglected State Constitutional Sources

Authors

Christian G. Fritz, University of New Mexico - School of LawFollow
Marsha L. Baum, University of New Mexico - School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2000

Abstract

American Constitution-Making: The Neglected State Constitutional Sources' looks at a frequently overlooked genre of literature pertinent to American constitution-making: comprehensive compilations of state constitutions that made their appearance from the first wave of constitution-making preceding (and following) the Federal constitution. Routinely issued in pocket-sized editions, the authors demonstrate the presence of these compilations in constitutional conventions and their use by constitution-makers from the Revolutionary period through the late 19th century. The significance of the process of 'borrowing' provisions from other state constitutions is placed in a new and different light that raises intriguing questions about the level of American awareness, understanding, and interest in written constitutions in the 18th and 19th centuries. The article contains a Bibliographic Appendix of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Compilations of American State Constitutions.

Publication Title

Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly

Volume

27

First Page

199

Keywords

American Constitutionalism, Written Constitutions, Constitution-Making, Constitutional Compilations, Constitutional Borrowing, Constitutional Conventions

Recommended Citation

Christian G. Fritz & Marsha L. Baum, American Constitution-Making: The Neglected State Constitutional Sources, 27 Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 199 (2000).
Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/103

Comments

Previously published by Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly