David O. Stewart to Present Lecture on the Constitution

CAPE MAY – Did you ever wonder where Washington’s political gridlock came from? Join us Oct. 12 at 4 p.m., as a master storyteller, distinguished constitutional lawyer and award-winning author David O. Stewart delivers his lecture, “The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution” — the third lecture in MAC’s annual Lessons of History Distinguished Lecture Series — at Cape Island Baptist Church, 115 Gurney St. The lecture will be followed by a meet-the-speaker reception hosted by Doug and Anna McMain at The Queen Victoria B&B, 102 Ocean St.
The lecture traces the struggle at the Philadelphia Convention to create the world’s first constitutional democracy and will explore the conflicts and hard bargaining that invented a government to meet the crises of the not-quite-united states — huge debts, hostile neighbors, armed rebellion, and the very real prospect of dissolving into three nations or more.
David O. Stewart graduated from Yale Law School in 1978 and was law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. during the October 1979 Term. After practicing law for many years, David O. Stewart began to write history, too. His first book, The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution, was a Washington Post bestseller and won the Washington Writing Award as Best Book of 2007. Two years later, Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy, was a Davis-Kidd Bestseller and was called “by all means the best account of this troubled episode” by Professor David Donald of Harvard. The Society of the Cincinnati awarded David its 2013 History Prize for American Emperor, Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America, an examination of Burr’s Western expedition, which shook the nation’s foundations at a time when those foundations were none too solid. The Lincoln Deception, a historical mystery about the John Wilkes Booth Conspiracy, was released in late August 2013. Bloomberg View called it the best historical novel of the year, while Publishers Weekly called it an “impressive debut novel.” David also is president of the Washington Independent Review of Books, an online book review.
Here’s what Publisher’s Weekly said about The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution:
“Since Catherine Drinker Bowen’s Miracle at Philadelphia appeared in 1966, no work has challenged its classic status. Now, Stewart’s work does. Briskly written, full of deft characterizations and drama, grounded firmly in the records of the Constitutional Convention and its members’ letters, this is a splendid rendering of the document’s creation. All the debates are here, as are all the convention’s personalities …”
This lecture is co-sponsored by MAC and Martel & Associates (Myles & Leslie Martel). Tickets for this limited event are $25 before Sept. 1 and $30 thereafter. The reception is $20. For tickets or further information, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visit www.capemaymac.org.
The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) is a multifaceted not-for-profit organization committed to promoting the preservation, interpretation, and cultural enrichment of the Cape May region for its residents and visitors. MAC membership is open to all. For information about MAC’s year-round schedule of tours, festivals, and special events call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278, or visit MAC’s Web site at www.capemaymac.org.