Forward To Freedom
Description
Forward To Freedom - The American Constitution and Humanity's Struggle for Liberty Across the Ages is a fast-paced, informative, and inspiring account of the Constitution and its historical roots. It should be a must-read for all citizens of the United States, those aspiring to become its citizens, and others seeking to understand "government by the people." The daily news is filled with references to separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, judicial review, and other constitutional principles. All these require comprehension of the Constitution if "we the people" are to hold our leaders accountable to rule within constitutional bounds. Forward To Freedom provides us such comprehension. The Framers of the Constitution deeply believed that the hand of Divine Providence is at work in history. They well knew the exciting story of humanity's struggle for liberty across the ages and viewed the Constitution as a culminating moment in that struggle and one in which God played a role. As the Framers knew, six thousand or more years ago the earliest civilizations of the Middle East crushed freedom in the name of divine right of one man to rule. Ancient Israel, which experienced several hundred years of republican government, proved the only exception. Freedom made some progress in Classical Greece and Rome, and the Framers learned from the Greek and Roman political philosophers. But Greece's efforts to build a stable democracy and Rome's attempt to remain a republic both ultimately failed. The Framers thoroughly understood how limited government slowly developed in England during centuries of effort to limit kings. Final victory for freedom came with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when consent of the governed henceforth became the basis of English government. At that time, English philosopher John Locke articulated fundamentally new principles of politics that rapidly became widely accepted in England and Colonial America. When England tried to greatly increase control over the American colonies than before, the result was the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence, which reflected many of John Locke's ideas. The ideals proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence¬-liberty, equality, unalienable rights, and consent of the governed-remained only empty ideals until the Constitution institutionalized them in a functioning government. The Constitution is indeed the product of compromises reached at the Convention, but it also reflects agreement on fundamental principles of enormous importance. The Constitutional Convention produced a document that remains the oldest of any nation, and that became a model for the world and object of veneration by Americans. More than any other single factor, the Constitution accounts for the fact that the United States became the most prosperous and powerful nation in history.
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Content
Copyright Dedication Contents Author's Preface Introduction Necessity of Government The Concept of a Constitution Success of the American Constitution 1. LEADING TO LIBERTY Constitutional Development in Ancient Times THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST Oriental Despotism Israel Divine Right of Kings vs. Constitutional Government CLASSICAL GREECE Political Science Socrates Plato Aristotle ROME The Roman Republic The Roman Empire 2. FOUNTAIN OF FREEDOM America's English Heritage FROM EMPIRE TO NATION-STATE ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES Common Law Kings vs. Tyrants Magna Carta Parliament ENGLAND AND THE EARLY MODERN AGE The Future of Political Freedom in England Parliament vs. King The Great Civil War The English Republic The Restoration The Glorious Revolution Establishing Freedom The English Constitution 3. CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY Constitutional Development in Colonial America BASIC BELIEFS IN COLONIAL AMERICA The Puritan Exodus Puritan Political Principles Thomas Hooker and Connecticut Roger Williams and Rhode Island The Real American Revolution THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Self-Government in Colonial America Toward Tyranny Independence The Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence and the Concept of a Constitution 4. TO SECURE LIBERTY The Constitutional Convention of 1787 UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION New State Constitutions The Articles of Confederation Shays' Rebellion THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION The Call for a Convention The Men of the Convention Leading Delegates The Manner of the Convention The Virginia Plan The New Jersey Plan Provisions of the New Jersey Plan Conflict and Compromise Federalism: A Note About Terminology A Revolutionary Act? A "Bundle of Compromises" A New Order for the Ages 5. THE FOUNDERS PROPOSE The Political Philosophy of the Constitution The New Improved Science of Politics The American Political Consensus BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT The Purpose and End of Government Government by Consent A Republican Form of Government Remedies for Diseases of Republicanism THE MECHANICS OF GOOD GOVERNMENT Federalist #10-An Extended Republic Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances A note on Parliamentary Government Federalism Judicial Review Political Progress 6. THE PEOPLE DECIDE The Bill of Rights & The Ratification of the Constitution RATIFICATION AND THE PROMISE OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS Dates of Ratification of the Constitution of the States The People, Religious Liberty, and the First Amendment TOWARD THE FIRST AMENDMENT The Tide of American Opinion Religious Liberty and the New Science of Politics Virginia's Precedent for the Nation The First Amendment 7. PROVIDENCE The Constitution, the American Civil Religion, and the Future of Freedom America's Civil Religion The Future of Freedom A Note on Sources About the Author Other Books by the Author
