The Legal History Committee and the Books at the Bar Committee of the
New York City Bar Association present
The Summer of 1787
| When: |
Thursday, January 10, 2008; 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. |
| What: |
An interview with David Stewart about his book, The Summer of 1787, a popular history about how the constitution was written.
|
| Where: |
House of the Association, 42 West 44th Street, between 5th & 6th Avenues |
Politicians are properly criticized today for cutting deals behind closed doors, but that is precisely what happened in a stifling room in Philadelphia, during the summer of 1787 when the new nation’s political operatives came together to both form – and save – the fledgling post-Revolutionary government.
Washington, D.C. attorney-author David O. Stewart has written a highly informative book, based largely on contemporary accounts, of that summer. The real story is how the constitution’s authors were forced to make bad compromises, particularly about the slavery issue, in order to keep the already contentious confederation of colonies together. This historical book unfolds like a novel – all the more fascinating, but also frustrating and saddening because the reader knows what the founding fathers suspected but refused to confront – that the morally divisive issue of slavery would eventually tear their delicate compromise to shreds.
Featured Speakers:
- David O. Stewart, Washington, D.C. lawyer, author and former law clerk to Justice Lewis Powell of the United States Supreme Court.
- Jethro K. Lieberman, law professor, author and constitutional scholar, former academic dean of New York Law School. He is currently the publisher of Tribeca Square Press, a new legal publisher affiliated with New York Law School.
About the Association
The New York
City Bar Association (www.nycbar.org)
was founded in 1870, and since then has been
dedicated to maintaining the high ethical
standards of the profession, promoting reform
of the law, and providing service to the profession
and the public. The Association continues to
work for political, legal and social reform,
while implementing innovative means to help
the disadvantaged. Protecting the public’s welfare remains one of the
Association’s highest priorities.
