It doesn't matter if you're a liberal, a conservative, a communist, a socialist, a Republican, a Democrat, or whatever political side you take… if you're an American citizen, there are some essential resources available free of charge on the Internet to help you to understand where our nation came from, and where it ought to go. Put aside ideology for a while, our nation is defined by the content of these documents.
Every one of them is available in its entirety online. This is probably one of the single best reasons for having an Internet connection in my mind. They just don't seem to teach this stuff in public schools anymore. These documents ought to be required reading for every American citizen…
- The Declaration of Independence.
"When in the course of human events…" The American Revolution was already in progress when the Continental Congress unanimously declared our independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. This is why we celebrate Independence Day on the fourth of July every year, even though the war was far from over in July of 1776. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence recognizes that all men are created equal and that we all have rights that are given to us by our creator. In other words, our rights come to us from God, and are not granted to us by any government.
The Declaration of Independence also tells us that governments are instituted among men to protect their God given rights, and outlines the serious and grave reasons for overthrowing an existing government, something that the founders did not consider should be done lightly. A long list of grievances against the British Crown were enumerated, ending with the declaration that the thirteen colonies were from that moment forward free and independent states, sovereign nations if you will.
- The Articles of Confederation.
The strong federal government we have today is a far cry from the initial government of the United States that came out of the revolution. That first government was merely a loose confederation of independent sovereign states (not states as we know the word today, but literally states — sovereign nations). Knowing where we came from, and the weaknesses of that original governmental structure is essential to understanding the government that followed and the reasons for its founding.
- The Constitution for the United States of America.
This is the big one, the document that defines the structure of our federal government. It establishes the powers of the federal government. It establishes the limitations upon that government. It establishes the relationship between the states that gave up a little of their sovereignty to the federal government in exchange for the protection and unification provided by that government. It stands as the supreme law of the land. If you don't bother to read any of the other documents listed here, read this one and the next one.
After reading the Constitution for the United States of America and the ninth and tenth amendments you should have an understanding of why it is that I believe that the founders intended a much weaker federal government than the one that we have now. This document is a major compromise between some extremely intelligent, strong-willed men who wanted a supremely powerful national government and some equally intelligent, strong-willed men that wanted the states to retain their sovereignty over the people. For a truly excellent description of the Constitutional Convention, including the changing factions and the evolution of the basic framework of our government, you might also want to pick up the book A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution by Carol Berkin. It's a fun read and contains a lot of insight into the mind and character of our founding fathers. It's a civics lesson that's truly entertaining.
- The Bill of Rights.
It has been said that the Constitution might not have been ratified if there hadn't been a Bill of Rights containing amendments to it presented at about the same time. The anti-federalists thought it necessary that certain of our inalienable rights be enumerated. As originally drafted, the Bill of Rights contained twelve amendments to the Constitution. The first two proposed amendments were not ratified. The remaining ten were all ratified and are now a part of our Constitution. When I write about "states rights", I'm often referring to the tenth amendment, an obscure passage that says quite simply:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Clearly this is evidence that the founders intended to limit the power of the federal government. Remember that when you hear words similar to these…
"The Court would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials… I could not possibly conclude that the Framers made such a choice."
— Justice Stevens, dissenting in DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA v. HELLER, 554 U. S. ____ (2008) - Amendments 11 — 27 to the United States Constitution.
Of course, the founders also knew that there would be times when the Constitution would not be sufficient for the needs of a growing nation. At the same time, they strongly believed that "Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes". That's why they provided the processes by which it could be amended, and made it as difficult to amend as they did. Even so, seventeen additional amendments followed the Bill of Rights. Possibly the most profound changes to the structure of our federal government are included in these amendments. Interestingly enough, the second amendment that was ever proposed to the Constitution, part of the original draft of the Bill of Rights was finally ratified on May 7, 1992, the last amendment (so far) to be ratified, the twenty–seventh amendment…
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.
- The United States Code.
The United States Code is a compilation of United States Law as enacted by the Congress. The link here will take you to a page where you can select a section of PDF documents to download to your computer. If you have a CD Burner and the appropriate CD Burner software, you can download ISO images of the United States Code and burn them to CD. You can then install the program to your computer, just as if you had purchased the United States Code on CD-ROM from the Government Printing Office. If neither of these options work for you, you can always search the United States Code online.
- The Federalist Papers.
The Federalist Papers (also known as The Federalist) were a series of articles written in support of the Constitution for the United States of America. These were the arguments of the federalists for ratifying the Constitution and explain what the Founders thought that the Constitution meant. If you have a problem interpreting the original intent of the Constitution, this is a good place to start, assuming you've actually read it. Truly there's no better place to start than the actual document itself.
- The Anti-Federalist Papers.
Not everyone wanted the new Constitution to be ratified. The Anti-Federalist papers were a series of articles arguing against the ratification of the Constitution. While the anti-federalists were ultimately not successful in preventing the ratification of the Constitution, they were responsible for the Bill of Rights. Without their arguments, which concluded with Anti-Federalist number 84 On the Lack of a Bill of Rights, we might not have the first ten amendments to our Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights.
In some ways, the anti-federalists were quite right about the weaknesses of the constitution. I've remarked before on the prophetic nature of some of Brutus' comments in Antifederalist No. 78-79. The failure of the Constitution to put adequate restrictions on the Judiciary has resulted in a sad perversion of the founders original intent, leading to a judicial oligarchy that is practically unassailable. He noted that "There is no power above them that can correct their errors or control their decisions." The founding fathers, perhaps weary after a long, hot summer overlooked this point as they drafted the Constitution, and Alexander Hamilton dismissed the point in Federalist number 81 — but that's an argument for another day.
As we celebrate the 232nd anniversary of the official declaration of our independence from Great Britain I would like to suggest that each and every one of you make note of these resources, and READ THEM. Set aside any pre-conceived notions that you have regarding what we "need to do" as a nation and simply read these documents — at least the first five of them. Item two defined the original government of the United States, and was so full of weaknesses that the Constitutional Convention was held to improve upon the design of the confederation, resulting in the Constitution we have today. The sixth item is so large as to be practically unwieldy (and that in itself ought to say something about how far we've strayed from the first five documents intent). Items seven and eight give some perspective to the rest of this, helping to flesh out the founders understanding of what it was that they crafted.
Maybe then, after you've carefully read them and considered what they have to say about the role of the federal government, the role of the states, and the role of the people we will all have a common framework upon which to debate the issues of the day.
Originally posted at Perri Nelson's Website. Cross posted at NW Bloggers.
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