Transcript:
The United States Constitution
Greetings, today I will discuss my book, the History of the United States Constitution.
The United States Constitution is a remarkable document devised by a remarkable group of men. It is a document that governs the government and not individuals.
Not a Democracy
Our form of government is erroneously called a democracy by many. However, it is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic in which we elect people to represent us in Congress and as the executive, the President. The Founding Fathers avoided the word "democracy." Democracies are notoriously short lived and can lead to the tyranny of the majority over the rights of the minority. The Constitution contains safeguards for minorities that protect their rights.
Straying from the Constitution
Sadly, many of our government officials have strayed from the Constitution and many appear to hold it in contempt. The public appears to tolerate this behavior and indeed many may be ignorant of the document and what it says.
The History of the Constitution
My book, the History of the United States Constitution attempts to right this problem. The book opens by exploring the earliest outline for national unity devised by none other than Benjamin Franklin in 1754 at the Albany Congress. Initially encouraged by Parliament and the King at the beginning of the French and Indian War, later both parties rejected it because the British government was afraid of the monster such a concept might develop into.
Evolution of the Idea
Franklin's Albany Plan of Union was ultimately rejected by both the British government and the various colonial assemblies. It was an idea ahead of its time. The book continues through various phases of the idea of national unity including the Stamp Act Congress in 1766 and the First Continental Congress in 1774. This Congress passed the Continental Association. This was the first attempt at cooperative action by the colonies. It was in response to Parliamentary acts termed the "Intolerable Acts," which were a series of repressive laws imposed on the colonies. The Association banned the import of goods from Britain and imposed penalties on colonies that refused to abide by the ban. The Association was largely successful.
The Second Continental Congress and Beyond
The Second Continental Congress convened the following year and largely conducted the War of Independence that took place from 1775 - 1783. During this time the Congress debated passage of the first unifying document, the Articles of Confederation. The Congress finally passed this in 1777. The Articles were weak in many crucial areas, leading the Confederation Congress to establish a committee to revise them.
The Constitutional Convention
This body assembled at Philadelphia in May 1787 and continued through September, when its work was completed after many months of debate and compromise. The document was sent out to the states for ratification, which was achieved when New Jersey ratified it, becoming the 10th state to ratify. The constitution was in effect in the states that had ratified it.
Amendments
The book includes a history of each of the amendments and explains the reasoning behind them.
A History of the United States Constitution is useful for people that want to learn about the foundation of our government.
The book is part of my United State History Series. The other two books in the series are A Short History of United States Politics – Book 1 and Political Parties and the Presidents - Book 2. The books are available in ebook, softbound and audio book format on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple and many other online book retailers.
You can find it on my web site, www.mossyfeetbooks.com.
Residents of southeast Indiana can find my books in Batesville at the Walnut Street Variety Shop on George Street
I hope you enjoyed this podcast and thank you for listening.
History of the United States Constitution