[Download] A View of the Constitution of the United States of America (1829) by William Rawle ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free

"An eminent writer on Constitutional law, one of the earliest of the commentators and one whose words are still cited as authority … near enough to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to have remembered its great events, had a personal acquaintance with many of the distinguished statesmen who sat in that Convention." - Georgetown Law Journal, 1921"His 'View of the Constitution of the United States' was for almost half a century the authority on the subject." Jackson, Market Street, 1918"Stood in the foremost rank of the legal luminaries of the first third of the century." - Royal College of Physicians of London 1903In 1829, William Rawle, who was the United States District Attorney, under President Washington, for the district of Pennsylvania, during the period when the federal Constitution was undergoing its first trials of practicability, published a second edition of his commentary upon the Constitution, titled "A View of the Constitution of the United States of America." Upon publication, Rawle's commentary was immediately recognized, and has ever since retained its position, as an able exposition of the subject, notwithstanding some of the extreme views of the author. His commentary was for almost half a century the authority on the subject, being a standard textbook at West Point prior to the Civil War.In writing his commentary Rawle had the advantage of personal acquaintance with members of the Constitutional Convention, and with the Judges of the Supreme Court who had been called upon to construe it, and he was well able to write upon the subject, having full knowledge of the circumstances under which the instrument itself was framed and ratified. Rawle was offered and turned down the position of judge, as well as Attorney-general in Washington’s Cabinet. As a U.S. district attorney, Rawle was sent to accompany the military forces suppressing the "Whisky Insurrection" in 1794.After an introduction, in which the nature of political constitutions in general is discussed, and in particular those of the British colonies in North America, the author treats of the U.S. constitution , and of the rules of construction, which should be adopted in explaining it. He then examines the legislative power as exercised by the senate, the house of representatives, and the President. These subjects compose the theme of the six first chapters. The remaining 25 chapters cover topics of treaties, enumerated powers, restrictions on power, treason, executive duties, appointments, liabilities, communications, pardons, compensation, incompatibility, special jurisdiction, tribunals & rules of decision.To those, who are desirous of studying the noblest monument of human wisdom, the Constitution, Rawle's treatise is recommended as an intelligent historical source.About the author: William Rawle (1759 –1836) was a Philadelphia lawyer educated in London, Pennsylvania Representative, U. S. district attorney, and President of Pennsylvania Historical Society. Rawle seems to have had the Penns for clients almost as soon as he completed his studies and was admitted to practice law. Others works by the author include: •Vindication of Rev. Mr. Heckewelder's 'History of the Indian Nations' •Discourse on the Nature and Study of the Law •The Study of the Law•Biographical Sketch of Sir William Keith•A Sketch of the Life of Thomas Mifflin•Essay on Angelic InfluencesRawle's View of the Constitution is a well-regarded historical source, cited by the following modern works: •A Well-Regulated Militia •The Constitution and Economic Regulation •The Lost History of the Ninth Amendment •The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law •The True Meaning of the Constitution •Majority Rule Versus Consensus •Faces of the Confederacy •Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court•West Point: Two Centuries and Beyond