Foreword
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FOREWORD by David Barton
Welcome to “The Citizen Guide to America’s Founding Documents.”
Founding Father John Jay, an author of the Federalist Papers and the original Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, wisely recommended: “Every member of the State ought diligently to read and to study the constitution . . . By knowing their rights, they will sooner perceive when they are violated, and be the better prepared to defend and assert them.”
And Samuel Huntington, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, similarly reminded us: “While [citizens] are acquainted with the duties which they owe to their God, to themselves, and to men, they will remain free. But if ignorance and depravity should prevail, they will inevitably lead to slavery and ruin.”
Knowing and understanding our Constitution is the key to preserving not only America’s liberties and freedoms but also our own individual liberties and freedoms.
Today, there is greater hunger to read, study, and understand this great but simple document than there has been in generations – there is a hunger to preserve rather than lose the liberty, prosperity, and limited government that have been at the root of American Exceptionalism.
The classroom presentation you are about to join is an opportunity for you to regain the intimate working knowledge that every citizen and student once had of our Constitution. But as Founding Father John Jay noted, it is not enough just to read the Constitution, we must also study it – and we must study it according to its original intent. This means studying the lives of the men who gave us the document as well as studying the meaning of the Constitution’s words and phrases at the time they were written.
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CONSTITUTION ALIVE! Class Workbook
This course will be led by my friend and colleague, Rick Green. Rick is an attorney and former State Legislator who for years has worked with me at WallBuilders as a speaker, writer, and teacher on the Constitution and the Founding Fathers.
Throughout this course, Rick will take you back to the events of 1776 and the Declaration of Independence, then on to 1787 and the Constitutional Convention, and then step by step through the constitutional Amendments and right up to the current debates in our nation today over topics such as nullification, D.C. Statehood, impeachment, the Electoral College, 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion, individual God-given rights versus group government-given rights, evolving the Constitution, and much more.
As Rick walks you through the course, remember to identify your numerous constitutional rights. As John Jay said, it is important to know your rights! But then also remember the wise counsel of John Quincy Adams when he said: “The connection between a people and their government is a connection of duties as well as of rights.”
And Founding Father James Wilson, who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, agreed, declaring: “To each class of rights, a class of duties is correspondent.”
Therefore, as you go through the course looking for your constitutional rights, also remember to identify the specific duties that you have as a citizen, for with every right comes a commensurate responsibility. By understanding both our rights and our duties, together, Lord willing, we can preserve our constitutional heritage for this and for future generations.
Thanks for taking time to study our Founding Documents and for embracing our duty as “We the People” of the United States!
God Bless,
David Barton