Download or read book The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America written by and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Never in history have 1,322 words held out such extraordinary determination to be free as those found in the Declaration of Independence. In 1787, "We the people" were the three words that not only engendered a new and cohesive nation; they went on to change the face of the world as well. In 1791, the first ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America, known to us as the Bill of Rights introduced the world to the concept of those singular rights that ought to belong to every free individual. In one compact volume, the full texts of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America with all ratified twenty-seven Amendments to the Constitution are side by side--along with another of America's seminal documents, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, an additional world-changing statement that codified for the first time that one cannot be required by law to support or prefer any belief or be punished for those one does profess--and the basis for what we have come to know as the "wall of separation" between church and state. Who we are and what we are free to be as citizens of the United States of America is contained between these covers. Cass R. Sunstein prefaces the volume with a succinct history and interpretation of the place and meaning of both the Declaration and the Constitution in American life. Enhanced by an index and suggestions for further reading, this volume, small in size but overwhelming in the impact of its contents, belongs in the home of every citizen of the United States.

Download or read book A New Constitution for a New America written by William MacDonald and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-08-05 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WE are in the habit of thinking of ourselves as a young nation, yet in comparison with almost all other constitutions in force in the world today ours is hoary with age. In seniority it yields to that "subtle organism which has proceeded from the womb and the long gestation of progressive history" known as the English constitution, though, as Walter Bagehot pointed out, the efficient parts of that constitution, as distinguished from its dignified parts, are comparatively modern. To Mr. MacDonald the antiquity of our Constitution is ground for questioning its suitability for present-day conditions, not for perpetuating it; the burden of proof, he evidently believes, is on those who would preserve it unaltered. He asks, in effect, not why should we change our form of government, but why should we not do so. That is to say, he writes as a radical critic of the Constitution. In reporting this fact one must hasten to add that he frequently pays his respects to legalism, he would not disregard any moral obligation embodied in the Constitution, and the means which he would employ for effecting his reforms are less revolutionary in form than was the adoption of the Constitution itself; indeed he is at pains to show that they are not revolutionary at all. The principal constitutional change advocated by Mr. MacDonald is the introduction of the parliamentary system of responsible government, to the lack of which he attributes most of our political ills. Ever since Bagehot's day writers on government have been comparing the presidential system with the cabinet system, generally to the disadvantage of the former, but it cannot be said that their opinions have made much impression on the American public. A great deal of fault has been found, it is true, with the working of our Constitution, but the blame has been laid on the politicians rather than on the Constitution. Mr. MacDonald insists that the evils from which we suffer are inherent in the Constitution itself and cannot be remedied without fundamental revision of the document. Thus he dismisses as futile the proposal that has been made several times during the last forty years to give the members of the President's Cabinet seats in Congress; it would not in his opinion be even a first step in introducing responsible government. What he proposes is to vest control of executive and legislative policy in a premier and cabinet sitting in Congress and holding office at its pleasure. He is not unaware that the parliamentary system is the object of much adverse criticism in countries where it exists, but he holds that most of this criticism is unwarranted. His defense of cabinet government may seem radical to some Americans, but it would seem very conservative in England; it would surely not silence the critics who are proclaiming in season and out of season that the parliamentary system has broken down. The author would not be content with the introduction of responsible government and such other changes as are involved in its establishment. He would give to Congress a number of additional powers, among them the power to acquire or control any industry or national resource. He would subject senators and representatives to popular recall on the ground that majority rule is tyrannical and an incitement to revolution unless the people have direct and continuous control of their representatives.... -The Nation, Volume 114 [1922]

Download or read book The U S Constitution written by Kathy Allen and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2006-09 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brief introduction to the U.S. Constitution.

Download or read book The Constitution of the United States written by David Kemper Watson and published by . This book was released on 1910 with total page 1074 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Constitution of the United States of America written by and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book On Reading the Constitution written by Laurence H. Tribe and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1993-01-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our Constitution speaks in general terms of “liberty” and “property,” of the “privileges and immunities” of citizens, and of the “equal protection of the laws”—open-ended phrases that seem to invite readers to reflect in them their own visions and agendas. Yet, recognizing that the Constitution cannot be merely what its interpreters wish it to be, this volume’s authors draw on literary and mathematical analogies to explore how the fundamental charter of American government should be construed today.

Download or read book Interpreting the Constitution written by Kent Greenawalt and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-04 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This third volume about legal interpretation focuses on the interpretation of a constitution, most specifically that of the United States of America. In what may be unique, it combines a generalized account of various claims and possibilities with an examination of major domains of American constitutional law. This demonstrates convincingly that the book's major themes not only can be supported by individual examples, but are undeniably in accord with the continuing practice of the United States Supreme Court over time, and cannot be dismissed as misguided. The book's central thesis is that strategies of constitutional interpretation cannot be simple, that judges must take account of multiple factors not systematically reducible to any clear ordering. For any constitution that lasts over centuries and is hard to amend, original understanding cannot be completely determinative. To discern what that is, both how informed readers grasped a provision and what were the enactors' aims matter. Indeed, distinguishing these is usually extremely difficult, and often neither is really discernible. As time passes what modern citizens understand becomes important, diminishing the significance of original understanding. Simple versions of textualist originalism neither reflect what has taken place nor is really supportable. The focus on specific provisions shows, among other things, the obstacles to discerning original understanding, and why the original sense of proper interpretation should itself carry importance. For applying the Bill of Rights to states, conceptions conceived when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted should take priority over those in 1791. But practically, for courts, to interpret provisions differently for the federal and state governments would be highly unwise. The scope of various provisions, such as those regarding free speech and cruel and unusual punishment, have expanded hugely since both 1791 and 1865. And questions such as how much deference judges should accord the political branches depend greatly on what provisions and issues are involved. Even with respect to single provisions, such as the Free Speech Clause, interpretive approaches have sensibly varied, greatly depending on the more particular subjects involved. How much deference judges should accord political actors also depends critically on the kind of issue involved.

Download or read book America s Unwritten Constitution written by Akhil Reed Amar and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2012-09-11 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite its venerated place atop American law and politics, our written Constitution does not enumerate all of the rules and rights, principles and procedures that actually govern modern America. The document makes no explicit mention of cherished concepts like the separation of powers and the rule of law. On some issues, the plain meaning of the text misleads. For example, the text seems to say that the vice president presides over his own impeachment trial -- but surely this cannot be right. As esteemed legal scholar Akhil Reed Amar explains in America's Unwritten Constitution, the solution to many constitutional puzzles lies not solely within the written document, but beyond it -- in the vast trove of values, precedents, and practices that complement and complete the terse text. In this sequel to America's Constitution: A Biography, Amar takes readers on a tour of our nation's unwritten Constitution, showing how America's foundational document cannot be understood in textual isolation. Proper constitutional interpretation depends on a variety of factors, such as the precedents set by early presidents and Congresses; common practices of modern American citizens; venerable judicial decisions; and particularly privileged sources of inspiration and guidance, including the Federalist papers, William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. These diverse supplements are indispensible instruments for making sense of the written Constitution. When used correctly, these extra-textual aids support and enrich the written document without supplanting it. An authoritative work by one of America's preeminent legal scholars, America's Unwritten Constitution presents a bold new vision of the American constitutional system, showing how the complementary relationship between the Constitution's written and unwritten components is one of America's greatest and most enduring strengths.

Download or read book The Constitution of the United States written by Thomas James Norton and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-26 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Americans of all political points of view often discuss the U.S. Constitution, but how well do they really know the document and its history? The Constitution the United States: Its Sources and Its Application gives the reader a crash course in the text of the Constitution and its sources. Thomas James Norton was a lawyer who argued before several high courts of appeals, and in this book his goal is to provide an annotated copy of the U.S Constitution so that readers could better understand the reason for each section. As Norton's annotations make clear, one cannot understand the Constitution without understanding the basics of the earlier 'Articles of Confederation', its strengths and weaknesses and why it ultimately failed. The Articles created a weak central government, which The Constitution sought to rectify without tipping the balance too strongly in favour of a mighty centralised government. The footnotes reveal the debate and compromise which led to the passage of each individual clause. Key historical moments, such as the reign of King Charles I of England and the Short Parliament, are added to the text to explain how they shaped the attitudes of the men who wrote the Constitution. Norton also discuses the governments of Australia, France, Canada and Brazil for comparative purposes, which really enriches the experience for readers who are not well versed in comparative government. These explanations are brief, which keeps the book moving at a brisk pace. Norton occasionally expresses strong opinions about historical events which may not be in line with how American constitutional history actually unfolded in the future, but his opinions do not interfere with the usefulness of the book. The Constitution the United States: Its Sources and Its Application is not overly technical and does not rely strictly on legal language. This makes the book digestible by everyone, from lawyers to historians to people interested in politics. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Download or read book The Constitution of the United States written by Thomas James Norton and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-10-12 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Americans of all political points of view often discuss the U.S. Constitution, but how well do they really know the document and its history? The Constitution the United States: Its Sources and Its Application gives the reader a crash course in the text of the Constitution and its sources. Thomas James Norton was a lawyer who argued before several high courts of appeals, and in this book his goal is to provide an annotated copy of the U.S Constitution so that readers could better understand the reason for each section. As Norton's annotations make clear, one cannot understand the Constitution without understanding the basics of the earlier 'Articles of Confederation', its strengths and weaknesses and why it ultimately failed. The Articles created a weak central government, which The Constitution sought to rectify without tipping the balance too strongly in favour of a mighty centralised government. The footnotes reveal the debate and compromise which led to the passage of each individual clause. Key historical moments, such as the reign of King Charles I of England and the Short Parliament, are added to the text to explain how they shaped the attitudes of the men who wrote the Constitution. Norton also discuses the governments of Australia, France, Canada and Brazil for comparative purposes, which really enriches the experience for readers who are not well versed in comparative government. These explanations are brief, which keeps the book moving at a brisk pace. Norton occasionally expresses strong opinions about historical events which may not be in line with how American constitutional history actually unfolded in the future, but his opinions do not interfere with the usefulness of the book. The Constitution the United States: Its Sources and Its Application is not overly technical and does not rely strictly on legal language. This makes the book digestible by everyone, from lawyers to historians to people interested in politics. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Download or read book The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America written by United States and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Never in history have 1,322 words held out such extraordinary determination to be free as those found in the Declaration of Independence. In 1787, "We the people" were the three words that not only engendered a new and cohesive nation; they went on to change the face of the world as well. In 1791, the first ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America, known to us as the Bill of Rights introduced the world to the concept of those singular rights that ought to belong to every free individual. In one compact volume, the full texts of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America with all ratified twenty-seven Amendments to the Constitution are side by side -- along with another of America's seminal documents, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, an additional world-changing statement that codified for the first time that one cannot be required by law to support or prefer any belief or be punished for those one does profess -- and the basis for what we have come to know as the "wall of separation" between church and state. Who we are and what we are free to be as citizens of the United States of America is contained between these covers. Cass R. Sunstein prefaces the volume with a succinct history and interpretation of the place and meaning of both the Declaration and the Constitution in American life. Enhanced by an index and suggestions for further reading, this volume, small in size but overwhelming in the impact of its contents, belongs in the home of every citizen of the United States.

Download or read book We the People written by Forrest McDonald and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-29 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles A. Bear's An Economic Interpretation of the United States Constitution was a work of such powerful persuasiveness as to alter the course of American historiography. No historian who followed in studying the making of the Constitution was entirely free from Beard's radical interpretation of the document as serving the economic interests of the Framers as members of the propertied class. Forrest McDonald's We the People was the first major challenge to Beard's thesis. This superbly researched and documented volume restored the Constitution as the work of principled and prudential men. It did much to invalidate the crude economic determinism that had become endemic in the writing of American history. We the People fills in the details that Beard had overlooked in his fragmentary book. MacDonald's work is based on an exhaustive comparative examination of the economic biographies of the 55 members of the Constitutional Convention and the 1,750 members of the state ratifying conventions. His conclusion is that on the basis of evidence, Beard's economic interpretation does not hold. McDonald demonstrates conclusively that the interplay of conditioning or determining factors at work in the making of the Constitution was extremely complex and cannot be rendered intelligible in terms of any single system of interpretation. McDonald's classic work, while never denying economic motivation as a factor, also demonstrates how the rich cultural and political mosaic of the colonies was an independent and dominant factor in the decision making that led to the first new nation. In its pluralistic approach to economic factors and analytic richness, We the People is both a major work of American history and a significant document in the history of ideas. It continues to be an essential volume for historians, political scientists, economists, and American studies specialists.

Download or read book The Constitution of the United States of America and the Declaration of Independence written by United States and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Constitution of the United States of America written by United States and published by . This book was released on 1895 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Constitution of the United States the Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights written by James Madison and published by . This book was released on 2020-11-08 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ★★★ The book every American should have at hand. Read the most important documents that shaped our country, together in this collection, transcripted in their original form, now in an elegant Edition. ★★★ You have rights that are protected by the Constitution. Knowing those rights is the first step to be a conscious citizen, if you know your rights no one can take them away. How many times have you found yourself in a situation where someone was quoting or referring to the Constitution, and you wished you had one at hand to check their statements? How often do you question the society surrounding you, or have to relay on the social dominant opinion or, worst, the mass media for major social issues? Stop listening people talking about your rights. Read them and understand them first-hand. Open the Constitution up and check it out. Read it yourself. Learn your rights. Draw your own conclusions. Every citizen of the United States, or anyone interested in understanding who we are as a Nation, should have a copy of these works. The most important documents of the United States of America are collected in this volume: The Declaration fo Independence The Constitution of The United States The bill of Rights and the other Amendments Read the documents that are the backbone of United States government as they were written, no biased opinions or commentary, in a deluxe Edition. ★ ★ ★ Scroll up, click the "buy now" button now and learn what most of Americans will never know about their rights, possibility, freedom, and the pursuit of the American dream. ★ ★ ★

Download or read book The Constitution of the United States of America written by Sam Fink and published by Welcome Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1787... We were given the right to practice the religion of our choice. We were given the right to speak freely without threat of persecution. It was written that our house and property were secure from unreasonable search and seizure. We were given the right to a public trial. In short, we were given our rights as citizens of the United States. Sam Fink has brought his extraordinary illustrative talent to the document on which our liberties as citizens and our continued existence as a nation depend. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is presented in a manner that invites the reader to wonder at its inspiration, its clarity, and its permanence. It survives, fiercely debated though it may be, 219 years after ordinary American citizens met and argued for 127 days during a ferociously hot Philadelphia summer, producing one of the magisterial documents of world history. Almost without being aware of their great achievement, they fashioned a nearly perfect instrument of government. It is as astonishing in its creation as it is in its adaptability. It is a testament to what a collection of free men can achieve. Sam Fink brings to life the issues underlying the triumphs of those words. Originally published in pen and ink in 1987, he recently went back to the original black-and-white art and painted it anew. The result is glorious. Sam is a master calligrapher, with a powerful intelligence and a generous sense of humor. Through both his writing and his illustration, we seem to read The Constitution better, to understand it more clearly. He has given us easy access. His art, his respect and interest in the words he is bringing to life, open the doors to this complex document, and the issues underlying the articles, the Bill of Rights, and all of the subsequent amendments. The trade edition has been treated in its design and manufacture like an heirloom. Exquisite paper, printed and varnished in five colors, cloth bound, and covered in a jacket with French folds, it belongs in everyone's home. And, for those who would be proud to hang a numbered and signed print of the entire Constitution, we are honored to present, additionally, a full-color Limited Edition of Sam's startling work, exquisitely designed and produced - matching in its manufacture the stunning quality of his ambition and the gravitas and significance of the original document.

Download or read book Constitution of the United States of America written by United States Congress and published by University of Michigan Library. This book was released on 2006-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: