Preface and acknowledgments
The American Revolution and the ideal of equality
Class conflict and crisis under the Articles of Confederation
The constitutional backlash against the "excesses of democracy"
"Necessary and proper": Alexander Hamilton on the economic powers of the national government
Constructing the Constitution: How the early Congresses understood their own powers and tackled economic hardship
"Silently lessening the inequality of property": Thomas Jefferson on the government's role in reducing economic inequality
"Not charity but a right": Thomas Paine on the justice of a welfare state
