The Constitution of the United States, with Index, and the Declaration of Independence by National Center for Constitutional StudiMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
What can one say about the Constitution?
One thing real quick, this particular edition begins with quotes to ensure we know that the Hand of Providence (aka God), Principles, Virtue and Freedom, and Education are all implicitly enshrined in the Constitution.
This pamphlet also contains the Declaration of Independence.
As for the Constitution itself, I’m struck again by how non-partisan it appears (I know, the wide variety of wrangling that went into creating the document bears this impression to be false). It is the rules of the game, not the game itself. There is also a sense of goodwill and trust implied. It’s like the authors assume that there will be a group of reasonable people gathered together to do the people’s business.
For example, veto power sounds like it is a conversation between the legislative branch and executive, not a battle. State regulation of imports and exports sounds like someone shrugged and said, “Well, the federal government controls that, other than when it is reasonable for the states to do that,” like there is a consensus on what is reasonable.
… huh, it almost seems like I’m writing more about our own time than the actually document…
At any rate everyone should own a copy of this, it is the rules of the road, let’s not crash.
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