Machine That Would Go of Itself

Michael Kammen is the Newton C. Farr Professor of American History and Culture at Cornell University. His books include Spheres of Liberty: Changing Perceptions of Liberty in American Culture and A Season of Youth: The American Revolution and the Historical Imagination. He was awarded the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization.

• 1: The Problem of Constitutionalism in American Culture; 1: The Most Wonderful Instrument Ever Drawn by the Hand of Man; 2: To Make the Constitution a Practical System; 3: All That Gives Us a National Character; 4: The Constitution Threatens to Be a Subject of Infinite Sects; 2: A Machine That Would Go of Itself; 5: On This Day, One Hundred Years Ago; 6: The American and the British Constitution Are Two Entirely Different Things; 7: The Crisis in Constitutionalism; 3: America is Always Talking About its Constitution; 8: God Knows How Dearly We Need a Constitutional Revival; 9: Decisions Are Politics When Constitutional Questions Are Up for Decision; 10: My God! Making a Racket out of the Constitution; 4: The Pendulum of Public Opinion; 11: Illegal Defiance of Constitutional Authority; 12: Our Bill of Rights Is Under Subtle and Pervasive Attack; 13: The Public Got Strange and Distorted Views of the Court and Its Rulings; 14: It’s What Holds Us All Together

"Michael Kammen's brilliant book is the most helpful contribution to the emerging Bicentennial [of the federal Constitution of 1787] thus far because it demythologizes the Constitution in a responsible manner.... This is a very important book" - Stanley N. Katz, Washington Post "Michael Kammen has focused his vast learning and erudition on the cultural impact of the American Constitution. The result is unique, refreshing, and highly rewarding." - Stanley I. Kutler, American Historical Review"