The University of Texas at Austin   School of Law

Symposium: Calvin Johnson's Righteous Anger at the Wicked States:
The Meaning of the Founders' Constitution

What: Symposium to discuss Righteous Anger at the Wicked States : The Meaning of the Founders' Constitution.
Location and Time: Thurs., Oct. 27 from 3:30–5:00; Fri., Oct. 28 from 1:00–5:00 pm. All panel discussions will be held in the Eidman Courtroom, UT Law.
Who:The event is free and the public is invited.

AUSTIN, Texas — Nationally prominent historians, political scientists, and legal scholars will discuss Professor Calvin Johnson's Righteous Anger at the Wicked States (Cambridge University Press, 2005) at a symposium on October 28, 2005. The scheduled speakers include:

• Panel 1: Political science; 3:30–5pm Thurs. Oct. 27, Eidman Courtroom, Law School
  Speakers:
  • Walter Dean Burnham (UT Political Science, author Critical elections and the Mainsprings of American Politics).
  • Sotioris Barber, (Notre Dame) (author, On What the Constitution Means).
  • Keith Whittington (Princeton Political Science) (author, Constitutional Interpretation: Textual Meaning, Original Intent, and Judicial Review).
  • Moderator: Jeffrey Tulis (UT Political Science) (author, The Rhetorical Presidency).
• Panel 2: History panel; 1–3pm Fri., Oct. 28, Eidman Courtroom
  Speakers:
  • Jack Rakove, (Stanford History Department) (by video link) (author, Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Creation of the Constitution).
  • Jack Greene, (Johns Hopkins History Department), Blackwell Encyclopedia of The American Revolution (editor in chief).
  • John Kaminski, (Wisconsin History Department), Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constituiton (editor in chief).
  • Robin Einhorn, (Berkeley History Department) (author, American Taxation, American Slavery).
  • Moderator: Alan Tully (Chair, U Texas History), summary of book.
• Panel 3: Law panel: 3:15–5 pm, Eidman Courtroom
  Speakers:
  • Philip Bobbitt (U Texas Law) (author, Constitutional Fate).
  • Lynn Baker (U. Texas Law) (author of Federalism and the Double Standard of Judicial Review).
  • Ernest Young (U. Texas Law) (author of Making Federalism Doctrine: Fidelity, Institutional Competence, and Compensating Adjustments).
  • Mitch Berman, summary of the book (U. Texas Law) (author of Constitutional Decision Rules).
  • Jordan Steiker, moderator (U. Texas Law).

About the book

Righteous Anger at the Wicked States is an explanation of the Constitution in terms of what the Founders were trying to accomplish. Johnson argues that the most pressing need to adopt the U.S. Constitution was to allow the federal government to tax to pay off the debts of the common defense. The Constitution went far beyond the immediate fiscal needs, however, to create a supreme, three-part national government. The book argues that the Founders' anger at the states for their duty to the united cause explains both critical steps and the driving impetus for the Revolution.

According to Professor H. Jefferson Powell of Duke University School of Law, "Calvin Johnson has written "an intellectually honest, incredibly erudite description of the Constitution as an intensely nationalist instrument … A fine achievement and a sophisticated book"

Johnson's thesis has been debated in panels at Yale, NYU and the Society of Historians of the Early American Republic, Independence Mall, Philadelphia.

Related links:

• Calvin Johnson: http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/chj7107/
• More Information about the book: http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/calvinjohnson/righteousanger/