2. LEARNING THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
GETTING STARTED ON A GREAT ADVENTURE!
1. Course Materials: You need 4 items: a) Pocket copy of Declaration of Independence & The U.S. Constitution. The Cato Institute http://store.cato.org/index.asp?fa=ProductDetails&pid=144278-A&... & www.askheritage.org/ have them.
b) The Federalist Papers. This is a collection of 85 essays written during 1787-1788 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, in order to explain the proposed Constitution to The People and to induce them to ratify it. For this reason, The Federalist Papers are THE authoritative commentary on the meaning of The Constitution. The late 18th century style of writing may seem difficult at first; but if you stick with it, you will get used to it. The authors were geniuses in political philosophy, and they are delightful! James Madison, of course, is The Father of the U.S. Constitution. Amazon has hard copies, & here is a web edition with a searchable text:
http://www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/
c) Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) I have the big green & gold hard copy which is a facsimile of the original. It costs almost $60.00; but is worth it. Amazon has it in hard copy and in kindle for $10.00. Here is an on-line edition:
http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/search/word,welfare Here is another:
d) Colored pencils.
2. How should we read The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Federalist Papers? Objective meaning? Or Subjective Interpretation?
a) The Traditional View, which I urge you to embrace, is that texts have a fixed and objective meaning, and it is the reader's task to ascertain that meaning. In order to do this, you must, among other things, pay close attention to definitions of words - you must understand the meaning of words the same way the author understood them. This is why you need Webster's 1828 Dictionary. You must also lay aside your own views and everything you think you already know about the subject so that you can read with an open mind, and so you don't read your own views into the text. Here is a common example of such error: Our allies are rightly angry at the "federal" government in Washington, D.C. But to some of these allies, "federal" has become a very bad word synonymous with statist government. So, they argue, since Hamilton, Madison, and Jay were "federalists", they were big-government statists, and the Anti-federalists were the ones with the right idea! But this dreadful error can be avoided simply by opening your mind and by looking up federal in Webster's! There, we learn that federal meant:
"Consisting in a compact between parties, particularly and chiefly between states or nations; founded on alliance by contract or mutual agreement; as a federal government, such as that of the United States."
It is the federal government created by The Constitution which is explained and endorsed in The Federalist Papers. The federal government created by Our Constitution bears no resemblance whatsoever to the illegitimate dictatorship now being constructed.
b) The modern view ("literary deconstruction") is that a text means whatever the reader thinks it means. The concept of a text having a fixed and objective meaning has been thrown out altogether! The sorry result of this view is that American educrats no longer teach how to read for the objective meaning of a text. It has become the dogma of our time that texts have no “objective meaning” to be discovered! Instead, each person is to come up with his own “understanding” – and one person’s “understanding” is as good as another’s. A friend recalls the following incident which occurred in an high school English class during 1960: The class read a short story, and then the teacher asked each student to say what the story meant to him. Whatever a student said was praised by the teacher. But when it was my friend’s turn, he said: “It doesn’t matter what it means to me – what matters is what the author meant.” The teacher was not pleased with this ‘out of place’ comment. Is it any wonder that judges on the U.S. Supreme Court feel free to “understand” the Constitution any way they please? They were conditioned in school to “think” that way; but they did not resist the conditioning. But here, you will learn how to read our founding Documents to look for and find the "original intent" - the "objective" meaning of the Documents.
3. First homework assignment:
a) Go through your copy of The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution and underline all references to God. Be sure you don't miss the express recognition of the Lordship of Jesus Christ which is contained within The Constitution!
b) For now, read through only the first Seven Articles of The Constitution. We will address the Amendments later. With another color, go through The Constitution (through Art. VII) and underline each of the law-making powers delegated by The Constitution to Congress. Most of the powers delegated to Congress are listed ("enumerated") at Art. I, Sec. 8; however, other enumerated powers granted to Congress are set forth elsewhere in The Constitution. Use another color for the powers delegated to The Executive Branch; and a 4th color for the judicial power of the federal courts. Use a 5th color to underline all powers which are specifically forbidden to the federal government. Use a 6th color to underline all powers which are specifically forbidden to The States.
4. Thinking about Our Constitution: Re-read The Preamble. With respect to The Constitution: Who established it and put it into effect? Who is the "creator" and who is the "creature"? Who is the "master" and who is the "servant"?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Publius Huldah on -
Online edition is fine!
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Permalink Reply by Wayne Litchford on -
OH, MY GOD AND CREATOR OF ALL! I have made a terrible mistake! I assumed. That's right...I assumed that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America would be so ripe with the words God, Jesus, Christ, Lord, Savior, and Creator that shaken down and pressed down the harvest would still be overflowing. Therefore, the task would simply be an exercise of proving what I already knew to be true.
I have, however, learned my lesson. I found that both documents taken together have no more of those identifiers of Our Lord than there are in the first sentence in this post.
Need I say how stunned I was and still am? I am still shaking my head in disbelief...maybe I counted wrong...no, that couldn't be it, I used the "Find" button...hmm...just two? Wow! -
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Permalink Reply by Publius Huldah on
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What? The Christian basis for Our Declaration & Constitution are clear: Art. VII., clause 2 of the Constitution expressly recognizes the Lordship of Jesus Christ, "...in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven...". And it is very clear that Our Constitution is modeled on God's Model of polity as set forth in the Bible. See the discussion on this in the Discussion forum.
In the Declaration, reference is made to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"; it is stated that our Creator endowed us with unalienable Rights; an appeal is made to "the Supreme Judge of the world"; and a statement of reliance "on the protection of divine Providence" is made. Throughout the Declaration, it is assumed that there is a higher law - a higher justice - by which we are judging the Acts of the English King! That "higher Law" is the law of God. -
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Permalink Reply by Wayne Litchford on
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You are, of course, right! (Thank God). I, on the other hand, am so embarassed. Wishing I could delete this post that I made in the wee hours of the night.
Just for the record, I am a follower of Jesus Christ and place my trust in Him. I, too, was born and raised in the Bible Belt here in middle Tennessee and have four grown children who have been taught the Word of God. -
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Permalink Reply by Publius Huldah on
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No need to be embarassed. Many have read the last clause of the Constitution (just above the signatures) and not noticed the reference to "our Lord". For some fun and to see some lefties sputter with rage, tell them, "The Constitution expressly acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus Christ!" After they finish their tirade about how you are an idiot, show them! And then tell them about the references to God in the Declaration of Independence.
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Permalink Reply by Charles the pathfinder on -
Dear Publius Huldah,
I wrote a blog here, about three paragraphs long / or short; then in my haste to look up a Bible verse, so as not to be in error, I hit a wrong key. I know it wasn't erased so its out there unfinished. If any one finds it floating around, please let me know so I can complete it.
It was a reply to you post about our Lord and the Constitution. You probably would not have liked it any how. It was most likely an act of our Lord to stop it cause He didn't like it.....Pathfinder.......................... -
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Permalink Reply by Publius Huldah on
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Hi, Pathfinder! But alas, if you type in one of these boxes and use the search function before you hit "Add Reply", your typing will be erased. To search, you must minimize this page, and then open up a completely new page to do your search. Then return to this page to add the new information. I learned the hard way too.
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Permalink Reply by Publius Huldah on
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YES! And you are most welcome!
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Permalink Reply by jody kimbrell on -
I also have Gordons America History of the events up to and through the Revolution 1788 4 volumes the new editions of the Constitution does not have all the references as written the letters are not included nor is the debates in the modern copies.
Same with the Declaration also the the separation of church and state which is not what it is being used for totally different what it is.
jody -
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Permalink Reply by concerned patriot on -
Finally found it!! Thank you PH for taking your time to do this for us and our county.
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Permalink Reply by Chas Jones on -
I would recommend adding a 5th item to the four mentioned ... The "Anti-Federalist" writings. Many of those were articulating the future dangers they saw in forming the new "national" government with expanded powers.
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Permalink Reply by Publius Huldah on
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If you would take the time to learn the Constitution our Framers actually gave us, perhaps you would not be so enamored of those who opposed it.
Our problems in this Country have resulted from our abandonment of the Faith of our Fathers, our abandonment of our Founding Principles; and our failure to learn the Constitution our Framers gave us. Since we never bothered to learn it, everyone violates it.
But the Constitution itself [except for the slavery flaw] really was a 5,000 year miracle.
Read the discussions and papers on the concepts of "federalism" and "enumerated powers"! Your comment reveals that you don't understand these concepts.
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© 2013 Created by Judson Phillips.
