Birth of the Nation : The First Federal Congress, 1789-1791

Birth of the Nation is an impressive piece of serious scholarship... Bickford and Bowling have produced a volume consistently easy and enjoyable to read. Procedural details and constitutional implications seem alive and relevant rather than of merely antiquarian interest. The introductory chapter, moreover, provides perhaps the best short discussion I have read concerning the constitutional issues and developments from 1774 to 1790. -- Raymond C. Bailey Journal of Southern History It is the best available introduction to the men and measures of the First Congress and it can be read with great profit by all who study and teach American history or American government. -- Patrick J. Furlong Journal of the Early Republic "scholarly and interesting..." The Washington Post The finest short account of the origins of Congress that I have read. It could only have been written by scholars who have devoted years to the study of the First Congress as authors Bickford and Bowling have done. -- Raymond W. Smock, Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives Both intelligent general readers and specialists in American history will enjoy and learn from this incisive account of the First Federal Congress... Birth of the Nation is a valuable and a necessary book. -- Richard B. Bernstein, Historian, New York City Commission on the Bicentennial of the Constitution The book is a marvelous summary of what was arguably the most important two years in congressional history... Birth of the Nation is simply chock-full of interesting examples that amply demonstrate just how important that first Congress was and just how little many of us-even many historians-know about that Congress. -- James T. Currie The Public Historian