Book excerpt: When the Framers met in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 they created a document that described the fledging country of colonists as one single, sovereign American people. This declaration--an act of faith even--affected different kinds of Americans in different ways. This volume explores how the "American People" shaped, responded, and debated the document and why historians have difficulties in deciding upon any single meaning that the founding generation of Americans might have held. The Constitution was the product of great skill and artistry; the document's success in forging a government based on the consent of the American People compels us to look at the political discourse of the day so that we may better understand the Constitution's inception, its wording, and its legacy.