Constitution Day

Patrick T. Conley, editor

Constitution Day is an anthology of twelve diverse and original essays on American constitutional themes by highly respected constitutional scholars. These often folksy essays were delivered in Bristol and Providence, Rhode Island, on or about Constitution Day (September 17) in the decade from 2000 through 2009. The Rhode Island Publications Society sponsored these events, which were hosted by Pat and Gail Conley and coordinated by Linda Gallen.

Among the original thirteen colonies, self-governing Rhode Island was the only state to boycott the Philadelphia convention and the last to ratify the federal Constitution. It offered no apology for its conduct. Many of the scholars herein give their Rhode Island audience a good-natured ribbing while expounding their broader views, and editor Pat Conley appends his “Rhode Island Reflection” to each essay.

But the volume itself transcends the narrow confines of Conley’s “microparadise” to deal with a wide and significant range of constitutional issues: the origin and rationale of written constitutions; judicial review and judicial independence; the process of constitutional construction, ratification, and amend=ment; the impact of state and local issues on certain provisions of the federal Constitution; popular sovereignty; federal theory; presidential power; and the role of religion, race, and nativity in American constitutional development. Viewed from these perspectives, Constitution Day is both timely and timeless.