America's founding and the struggle over economic inequality

Foreword

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

Conclusion.