Portfolio

Presented via the links at the left are eight chapters that comprise a concise history of the American constitution for teachers of American history. This work is based upon several assumptions. The first is that understanding the American constitution is essential to understanding American history. Unlike any other nation in the world, America is defined by its adherence to certain political principles, rather than by our descent, religion, or even language and history. The nation’s founding documents — the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution primarily — express these principles.

Americans are unique among the people of the world in the extent to which we have tried and succeeded in living under constitutional government. Constitutional government is, essentially, limited government. The perennial problem in human government is establishing a government that is strong enough to provide the order necessary to human social life, but not so strong that it extinguishes fundamental liberties. With this understanding of political history this account seeks to understand the American Constitution as part of the broader experience of “western civilization.”