bm1894 's review for:

A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution by Carol Berkin

4.0

---

While only having read the first seven chapters, I really enjoyed this book. It not only explained the big events in American history, it goes into further detail and gives explanations on the people involved in writing the Constitution. While the task at hand seemed simple, it was in fact very difficult to agree on what exactly would become of the Unites States. The delegates chosen form each state had a difficult time agreeing on one single point that varied from what powers the president should have to the exact structure they were to form for the government. The surprising part was that they didn’t really even have the power to change the government. It was impressively written out in every chapter how every person involved in the Constitutional Convention had one clear goal: to maintain unity while preventing tyranny. Fearing a repeat of the British rule, the delegates always tried to prevent from one person in the government maltreating or overusing the power given to them. While these men were wealthy, they also tried to keep focus on the more needy. Berkin did an excellent job with this book, although some of the details she gave were unneccessary.