The Demands of Justice and the Spirit of the Laws: The American Founding and Montesquieu's Political Thought.

The article offers a new perspective on the Founding and slavery by turning to social commentator Montesquieu's political theory and the constitutional convention notes in tandem with each other. It compares the Montesquiean response to American slavery with the American Constitution and historical evidence from the American Founding era. It suggests that a Montesquiean interpretation of the American founding with regard to slavery brings possibilities to consider nation's history and future.