The author of the “The Bill of Rights: Creation and reconstruction” is a professor of Constitutional law who has numerous publications on the topic. Both parties invite him to testify before Congress, so biases in that aspect are unlikely, although he may pursue the abolitionist agenda, considering the book’s angle.
The author believes that the Ten Amendments were structural and focuses on how the 14th Amendment completely transformed them and added more freedom to the American people. The author argues that the Bill of Rights is majoritarian and populist, protecting individual educated citizens rather than the public as a whole. The book also specifies that the legal language was not as inclusive as it might seem.
The source relied on the Bill of Rights itself, the 14th Amendment, the Federalist Papers, and the Schwartz collection, which contains historical records of Congress, and local newspapers of the time. The author also cites Supreme Court cases, such as Barron and Murray’s Lessee, allowing the reader to understand certain constitutional changes (Amar, 1998, p. 306). The book considers drafts, treatises, and other contemporary documents to provide the context.
The book appears reliable due to an extensive number of primary sources to prove the original point. The textual analysis of the Bill is supplied with extra-linguistic evidence, such as when discussing the variety of religious groups regarding education and criticizing a “single national religious regime” (Amar, 1998, p. 45). Thus, the use of primary sources and the context-rich narrative make the book reliable and convincing.
The book explains how the Bill of Rights was created, which is an inherent part of the Constitution, and connected with its drafting. For instance, it presents both Federalist and Anti-Federalist sentiments, which shaped the document. The latter expressed doubt that Congress aristocrats “would have an insufficient sense of sympathy with, and connectedness to, ordinary people,” which is a view followed by the author in the source (Amar, 1998, p. 11). The book provides the necessary context, such as congressmen’s speeches, which help understand the circumstances surrounding the creation and the ratification of the first ten Amendments.
Reference
Amar, A. R. (1998). The Bill of Rights: Creation and reconstruction. Yale University Press.