Signing Their Rights Away : The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the United States Constitution

Presents the lives, deaths, and scandals involving the thirty-nine signers of the United States Constitution, including Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and James McHenry.;A constitutional cheat sheet -- A constitutional time line -- New Hampshire. John Langdon : the signer who picked up the tab ; Nicholas Gilman : the most handsome signer -- Massachusetts. Nathaniel Gorham : the signer who considered a monarchy ; Rufus King : the signer who always ran (and never won) -- Connecticut. William Samuel Johnson : the signer who lived the longest ; Roger Sherman : the signer who knew how to compromise -- New York. Alexander Hamilton : the signer who died in a duel -- New Jersey. William Livingston : the signer-poet ; David Brearley : the signer who proposed erasing state boundaries and starting over ; William Paterson : the son of a door-to-door salesman ; Jonathan Dayton : the signer who stole $18,000 from Congress -- Pennsylvania. Benjamin Franklin : the signer known throughout the world ; Thomas Mifflin : the signer who was ruined by drink ; Robert Morris : the signer who went to debtors' prison ; George Clymer : the signer whose home was destroyed by the British ; Thomas FitzSimons : the signer who loaned away his fortune (and never got it back) ; Jared Ingersoll : the signer who couldn't keep up with fashion ; James Wilson : the signer-turned-fugitive ; Gouverneur Morris : the playboy with the wooden leg -- Delaware. George Read : the signer who signed twice ; Gunning Bedford Jr. : the signer who trusted no one ; John Dickinson : the signer who never signed ; Richard Bassett : the signer who overcame religious discrimination ; Jacob Broom : the invisible signer -- Maryland. James McHenry : the signer immortalized by the Star-Spangled Banner ; Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer : the signer with the mysterious middle name ; Daniel Carroll : the signer who helped create Washington, D.C. -- Virginia. George Washington : the President of the Constitutional Convention ; John Blair : the underachieving signer ; James Madison Jr. : the father of the Constitution -- North Carolina. William Blount : the signer who-- oh, there's no way to dance around the issue, this guy was a crook ; Richard Dobbs Spaight : the other signer who died in a duel ; Hugh Williamson : the signer who believed in aliens -- South Carolina. John Rutledge : the signer who attempted suicide ; Charles Cotesworth Pinckney : the signer who wouldn't bribe the French ; Charles Pinckney : the ghost writer of the Constitution? ; Pierce Butler : the signer who turned coat on the king -- Georgia. William Few : the signer who lived the American dream ; Abraham Baldwin : the signer who pinched pennies -- Appendix I. The U.S. Constitution. Text of the U.S. Constitution ; Text of the Bill of Rights ; Additional amendments -- Appendix II. A constitutional miscellany. Preserving the Constitution ; The penman of the Constitution ; William Jackson, the fortieth signer ; Will the real Constitution printer please stand up? ; Who signed the Bill of Rights? ; By the numbers ; They came, they saw, they didn't sign ; Immigrant signers. Unfold Book Jacket for a Full-Color Reproduction of the U.S. Constitution With their book Signing Their Lives Away, Denise Kiernan and Joseph D'Agnese introduced readers to the 56 statesmen (and occasional scoundrels!) who signed the Declaration of Independence. Now they've turned their attention to the 39 men who met in the summer of 1787 and put their names to the U.S. Constitution. Signing Their Rights Away chronicles a moment in American history when our elected officials knew how to compromise?and put aside personal gain for the greater good of the nation. These men were just as quirky and flawed as the elected officials we have today: Hugh Williamson believed in aliens, Robert Morris went to prison, Jonathan Dayton stole $18,000 from Congress, and Thomas Mifflin was ruined by alcohol. Yet somehow these imperfect men managed to craft the world's most perfect Constitution. With 39 mini-biographies and a reversible dust jacket that unfolds into a poster of the original document, Signing Their Rights Away offers an entertaining and enlightening narrative for history buffs of all ages An entertaining and essential collection of stories about the surprising and strange fates of the thirty-nine statesmen who created the U.S. Constitution. Now in paperback with a brand-new cover, this companion volume to Signing Their Lives Away tells the untold stories of the signers of the U.S. Constitution and comes at a time when our constitutional rights are at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Remember when our elected officials knew how to compromise? Here are short, irreverent, fun, and fact-filled biographies of the 39 men who set aside their differences and signed their names to the U.S. Constitution—the oldest written constitution of any nation in the world. You’ll meet: • The Signer Who Believed in Aliens • The Signer Who Was Shot in the Stomach • The Signer Who Went Bankrupt • The Peg-Legged Signer • And many more colorful colonists! Complete with portraits of every signatory, Signing Their Rights Away provides an entertaining and enlightening narrative for students, history buffs, politicos, and Hamilton fans alike. Get a new view of American history with this collection of fun, fact-filled biographies revealing the untold stories of the 39 statesmen who signed the U.S. Constitution. A companion book to Signing Their Lives Away—perfect for history buffs! Remember when our elected officials knew how to compromise? Here are short, irreverent, fun, and fact-filled biographies of the 39 men who set aside their differences and signed their names to the U.S. Constitution—the oldest written constitution of any nation in the world. You'll meet: • The Signer Who Believed in Aliens • The Signer Who Was Shot in the Stomach • The Signer Who Went Bankrupt • The Peg-Legged Signer • And many more colorful colonists! Complete with portraits of every signatory, Signing Their Rights Away provides an entertaining and enlightening narrative for students, history buffs, politicos, and Hamilton fans alike.