Document 11: The Federalist Papers: A Timeless Guide to the U.S. Constitution
The Federalist Papers, a cornerstone of American political philosophy, are a collection of 85 articles and essays written under the…
Document 10: Debates at 1787 Constitutional Convention: The ‘Bait and Switch’ that Made a Nation
A Step Back in Time Imagine traveling back to the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, where significant history was unfolding.…
Document 9: Northwest Ordinance and the Confederation Congress: Expanding a Nation, 1787
Although the Confederation Congress may have had little authority and did very little, it did one thing very well in…
Document 8: Annapolis Convention, 1786 – Quiet Beginnings of a Constitutional Revolution
In a room where ostensibly nothing happened, the Annapolis Convention of 1786 quietly set the stage for a monumental shift…
Document 7: The Articles of Confederation: America’s First Governing Experiment
When the ink dried on the Declaration of Independence in 1776, it was more than just a symbolic break from…
Document 6: A Witness to Revolution: The Declaration of Independence’s Defiant Leap
Document 5 on our path to the Founding of the American Republic was Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense.” But, Document 6…
Document 5: Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”: Catalyzing the American Revolution
Introduction “Common Sense,” a pamphlet by Thomas Paine published in January 1776, stands as one of the most influential writings…
Document 4: The Virginia Declaration of Rights – Precursor to the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights
This is the fourth installment of historical antecedents to the Constitution of the United States. Prior documents were: the Magna…
Document 3: English Bill of Rights: Context, Provisions, Impact, and Legacy
This is my third article on the historical antecedents of the United States Constitution. The Magna Carta and the Mayflower…
AntiSemitism – Neither recent, nor justified. From the Assyrian Captivity (740 BCE) to the Crushing of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-35 CE)
740 BCE – Assyrian Captivity: Several thousand Israelites from Samaria were resettled as captives when the Northern Kingdom of Israel…