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A Machine That Would Go of Itself
IN HIS NEW BOOK, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Michael Kammen examines the cultural impact on the United States of its Constitution—its place in the public consciousness and its role as a symbol in American life—from ratification in 1788 to our own time. Exploring what the Constitution has meant to the American people (perceptions and misperceptions, uses and abuses, knowledge and ignorance), he shows that a glaring discrepancy exists between the recurrent declarations of reference for our American "Ark of the Covenant" and the fact that most of us neither know nor fully understand it.
How did this gap between ideology and reality come about? To explain it, Kammen examines the complex and contradictory feelings about the Constitution that emerged during its preparation and have been with us ever since:
• our confusion as to the kind of Union we created, especially with regard to how much sovereignty the states actually surrendered to the central government
• the development, "haltingly and incompletely," of the Constitution as a national symbol between 1789 and 1860
• the major constitutional crisis of the nineteenth century: the Civil War and its aftermath
• the near-failure of the attempt to organize an observance of the Centennial of the Constitution in 1887
• changing perceptions of the differences and similarities between the British and American constitutions
• turn-of-the-century debates about states' rights versus national authority, and about how easy or difficult it ought to be to amend the Constitution
• the development of a "cult of the Constitution" following World War I, and the conflict over policy issues that persisted in spite of it
• expanded awareness of constitutional problems in political and diplomatic issues that arose following World War II
• gains and setbacks in civil liberties during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s
• the problematic tension between the Supreme Court and the press, and the inadequate national understanding of constitutional matters that resulted
Finally, Kammen examines the critical response to Supreme Court decisions striking down various laws passed by Congress. How, he asks, can the current impulse of many Americans, on the right and the left, to reduce the Court's powers be reconciled with the faith in the value of judicial review—generally considered to be the most distinctive American contribution to Western constitutionalism.
By showing that through our entire history as a nation we have had at once too much pride and too little interest in our frame of government, and by demonstrating what the cost to us has been and what the solutions to the resulting problems might be, Michael Kammen throws new and challenging light on the relation of the Constitution to the realities of American life.
How did this gap between ideology and reality come about? To explain it, Kammen examines the complex and contradictory feelings about the Constitution that emerged during its preparation and have been with us ever since:
• our confusion as to the kind of Union we created, especially with regard to how much sovereignty the states actually surrendered to the central government
• the development, "haltingly and incompletely," of the Constitution as a national symbol between 1789 and 1860
• the major constitutional crisis of the nineteenth century: the Civil War and its aftermath
• the near-failure of the attempt to organize an observance of the Centennial of the Constitution in 1887
• changing perceptions of the differences and similarities between the British and American constitutions
• turn-of-the-century debates about states' rights versus national authority, and about how easy or difficult it ought to be to amend the Constitution
• the development of a "cult of the Constitution" following World War I, and the conflict over policy issues that persisted in spite of it
• expanded awareness of constitutional problems in political and diplomatic issues that arose following World War II
• gains and setbacks in civil liberties during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s
• the problematic tension between the Supreme Court and the press, and the inadequate national understanding of constitutional matters that resulted
Finally, Kammen examines the critical response to Supreme Court decisions striking down various laws passed by Congress. How, he asks, can the current impulse of many Americans, on the right and the left, to reduce the Court's powers be reconciled with the faith in the value of judicial review—generally considered to be the most distinctive American contribution to Western constitutionalism.
By showing that through our entire history as a nation we have had at once too much pride and too little interest in our frame of government, and by demonstrating what the cost to us has been and what the solutions to the resulting problems might be, Michael Kammen throws new and challenging light on the relation of the Constitution to the realities of American life.
558 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
About the author
Michael Kammen
60 books7 followersMichael Gedaliah Kammen was a professor of American cultural history at Cornell University. He won the Pulitzer Prize (History, 1973) for his book, People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 15, 2012
Those of us who revere the Constitution and particularly the Bill of Rights realize how subversive a document it can be. We all pay it lip service but many really don't understand what it means, or perhaps understand only too well. Michael Kammen in A Machine That Would Go Of Itself describes how Louis D. Oaks, the Los Angeles Chief of Police, had Upton Sinclair arrested in 1923 for reading the first three amendments to the Constitution in public. He was "kidnapped" by the police, moved to different station houses to confuse his lawyers, and held incommunicado. He was charged with "discussing, arguing, orating, and debating certain thoughts and theories, which thoughts and theories were contemptuous of the constitution of the state of California, calculated to cause hatred and contempt of the government of the United States of America." ! One suspects Chief Oakes was not fluent in the meaning of the Constitution when he took his oath.
Sinclair was released only because a subordinate of the Chief secretly phoned an associate of Sinclair's so his lawyers could prepare a writ to get him out. Sinclair continued his meetings and helped found the Southern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. Chief Oakes was fired about a month later after being discovered in his car at night with a woman and a jug of whiskey.
Sinclair was released only because a subordinate of the Chief secretly phoned an associate of Sinclair's so his lawyers could prepare a writ to get him out. Sinclair continued his meetings and helped found the Southern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. Chief Oakes was fired about a month later after being discovered in his car at night with a woman and a jug of whiskey.
January 11, 2016
The wonderful thing about history is that you realize the truth of the statement, "plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose." Kammen traces the history of constitutionalism, American understanding and faith in the values of the constitution. For most of its history, Americans have reified the document while simultaneously arguing over its meaning and essence.
There are some tedious chapters about the extent to which celebrations of the Constitution received public support, but the ones that outline the ebbs and flows of Constitutional interpretation are quite fascinating.
There are some tedious chapters about the extent to which celebrations of the Constitution received public support, but the ones that outline the ebbs and flows of Constitutional interpretation are quite fascinating.
February 13, 2008
Michael Kammen is one of my favorite social historians. He has a very crisp, accessible prose whilst still remaining true to the rigor of the historical project. I'm also something of a constitutional history nerd. Don't ask. So this is one of my favorite books. Period.
January 4, 2026
Extremely thoroughly researched — Kammen dug up programs and minutes of various celebrations of the anniversary of the Constitution, not to mention letters, newspaper columns, and speeches by various luminaries over the years. Since the main theme — at no time in our history have Americans agreed about the Constitution, nor for that matter understood it very well— is very consistent from chapter to chapter, it gets to be a bit of a slog.
I did learn a lot about various movements over the years to reign in the Supreme Court, the debate on nullification, and more. Assumes a high degree of familiarity with American history, e.g. the Hartford Convention of 1814-15 is mentioned but not explained, and various senators are quoted without otherwise being introduced.
I did learn a lot about various movements over the years to reign in the Supreme Court, the debate on nullification, and more. Assumes a high degree of familiarity with American history, e.g. the Hartford Convention of 1814-15 is mentioned but not explained, and various senators are quoted without otherwise being introduced.
September 16, 2025
Kammen's extremely detailed book looks at roughly two hundred years of American discussion and celebration of its Constitution. I found it generally dry, sometimes bogged down in details, but those interested in American cultural and political history will find a lot of value here.
to-keep-reference
October 18, 2016Para análisis detallados sobre los conflictos internos a la Constitución, ver principalmente: Michael Kurman, A Machine That Would Go of Itself (New York: Knopf, 1986).
Imperio Pág.127
Para una breve historia de las crisis de la Constitución precipitadas por la esclavitud negra desde la Convención Constituyente hasta la Guerra Civil, ver Kammen, A Machine That Would Go of Itself, pp. 96-105.
Imperio Pág.131
Imperio Pág.127
Para una breve historia de las crisis de la Constitución precipitadas por la esclavitud negra desde la Convención Constituyente hasta la Guerra Civil, ver Kammen, A Machine That Would Go of Itself, pp. 96-105.
Imperio Pág.131
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews