| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 90.3

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 90.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Ratifying the Republic: Antifederalists and Federalists in Constitutional Time. By David J. Siemers. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002. xx, 292 pp. $55.00, ISBN 0-8047-4106-9.)
This book helps answer a significant question about the early republic: why did argument about the Constitution's legitimacy cease after its ratification? David J. Siemers addresses this question by scrutinizing Antifederalist leaders. He shows that Antifederalists helped legitimize the Constitution and assured constitutional governance after 1788.	1
Despite serious fears about the Constitution, Antifederalist leaders were committed to the rule of law and popular sovereignty. After ratification Antifederalist leaders acquiesced gracefully. They acknowledged that the people should declare fundamental law and that ratification was an example of popular sovereignty. These stances, Siemers suggests, legitimized the Constitution during the Republic's formative years.	. . .

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