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Have You Read the U.S. Constitution?
Posted by FaithfulinPrayer • 9/09/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: constitution, politics
I'm reading it now and writing about it. It's proving to be a very interesting topic. I'll be interested to see how it compares to the way our government runs today.
User Comments
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Get with the times man! That thing is useless now. -
I'm a Canadian and yes, I have read it. Specifically, what would you like to discuss about the American Consitution? -
Our government, for better or for worse, runs according to the Hamiltonian interpretation of the document--that only general provisions are necessary, rather than precise enumeration. It has been that way in practice from the Washington Administration until now.-
do you know what your saying? -
I think he does and so do I.
Hamiltonians, for the most part, were merchants, bankers, manufacturers, or professional men from New England and the Atlantic seaboard, along with some wealthy farmers and southern planters.
Jeffersonians, for the most part, were artisans, shopkeepers, frontier settlers, or owners of small farms in the interior regions of the South and West.
They had differing attitudes towards government.
See the comparison here: www.wccusd.k12.ca.us/elcerrito/history/jeff&ham.htm
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Hasn't any US citizen who took history or social studies in school read it? I imagine all naturalized US citizens have too.
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one would think...
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No, we didn't "have" to read it when we became citizens, but we have read it
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well, sure... people in other countries are educated
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So is there something specific you want to address and what part is interesting for you?
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Required reading in my high school, and I remember taking a test about the amendments. Of course, at that age you have simply a blithe sense that government is being taken care of by OLD people and everything is set in stone, LOL... it was many years of watching news and politics that drove home the flexibilities and interpretations, into which people project their beliefs.
I should read it again now with my now-OLD eyes, hehe... particularly that I can now compare it to living in Europe for awhile. Kudos to you for undertaking such a project -
No, I've never read the U.S. Constitution, but I know what a sunflower looks like. -
I have read it, but just not recently. I will renew my knowledge of it:
www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html -
I just wanted to see if people actually read the thing. I probably was supposed to read it in high school and I may have read it because I do know what parts of it says. But that was so long ago. So I'm reading it now.
I'm just wondering how it is being followed by our government. I don't feel it is a useful document unless the People allow it to be. It was formed to have a small central government over the several states. There was much debate over having the constitution and a central government for fear that the government would become too large and have too much power (i.e. the Federalist and Anti-Federaist Papers). I'm going to read all of those also. -
I think that it is also important to understand the thoughts of the most significant framers. History suggests that the federalist papers were somewhat propagastic to ease the minds of people that might believe that something radical was occurring. Even those most ardent believers in limited government had to deviate from their fundementalism out of what they saw as necessity.
The events of purchasing the Louisiana territory, and later of providing the raw capital to support the recolonization of slaves (which was only seen through in the smallest part--see also Liberia) tested the degree to which even Jeffersonians could adhere to the strictest of interpretations. -
I've read it repeatedly. It bears insufficient resemblance to our current government. -
Don't forget to read the amendments, too! They're sort of important.
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