The nation’s founding document, as imagined by the midcentury American imagination.
In 1952, Stanford University Press published a guide for young American readers to aid them in their understanding of the United States Constitution. Now in reissue over 60 years later, the book not only serves its original purpose, as a concise resource on the history and purpose of the nation’s founding document, but it also offers a window into the patriotic imagination of the midcentury—a time characterized by communist fear-mongering and a prevailing sentiment of national exceptionalism (a retro 50s ethos, if you will).
Illustrated with equally retro 50s-style line drawings, the book considers each part of the Constitution in turn, elucidating passages and considering the Framers’ intent. To celebrate Constitution Day, we’ve excerpted a portion from Your Rugged Constitution below so that you (yes, you, fellow American!) can brush up on the nation’s famous Preamble.
The following is an excerpt from Your Rugged Constitution:
WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES
Those words are very important to you and to all other citizens of the United States. In many countries, governments are not run by all of the people, but by small groups of people for their own selfish purposes. In the famous Preamble to our Constitution, We the People of the United States proclaim to the world that our government belongs to the people, is run by the people, and exists for the good of the people.
In Washington, D.C., the original handwritten copy of our Constitution is kept on display. But remember that the Constitution is not just a historical document. It is a plan of government that is working today even better than when it was written. It is yours to know, to use, to respect, and if necessary to defend. For you are one of "the People of the United States."
TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION
Our country won its independence from Great Britain in the year 1781. For eight years after that, this country was governed under a constitution called the Articles of Confederation. But there were faults in the Articles. The United States of America, in spite of its name, was far from being a "perfect Union." It was instead, as the Articles said, a "league of friendship" among the states.
In time, some of the states became less friendly toward one another. Soon they began to quarrel seriously. Instead of pulling together as a team, the states were pulling in different directions. There was danger that the states might break away and become small separate countries.
The nation's leaders feared that our new country might fail. For this reason they called a convention of citizens from the various states to meet and study these problems. This group of citizens, now called the Constitutional Convention, began its meetings in May 1787 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. All the men were leaders in their states. Among them were such famous citizens as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison.
For a while the delegates to the Convention tried to patch up the Articles of Confederation and make them work. But they soon decided to make an entirely new plan of Government in order to form "a more perfect Union." On September 17, 1787, they put their plan into final form and signed it. They had written the Constitution of the United States of America—the plan for our government. We today are proud to be citizens of a single strong nation. Our nation is respected by foreign countries and is prosperous at home. Our farm products and manufactured goods pass freely from state to state. We ourselves can go easily across state boundaries without having to carry passports. These are a few of the benefits we enjoy because "a more perfect Union" was established under our Constitution.
TO ESTABLISH JUSTICE
Our Constitution tells how our laws are to be passed and how our courts are to be run so that every citizen will get the same fair treatment from the government. Laws and punishments are the same for everyone.
When the Constitution was written, there were injustices in the world that would seem strange to us today. In some countries, for example, nobles were tried in their own special courts under special laws. Kings sometimes ordered people to be executed without a trial. As you will see, the men who wrote our Constitution took care that injustices like these should not be allowed in the United States.
But more than that, these farsighted men gave us a system of laws and courts that protects us from newer kinds of injustice. In some countries today, governments give people unfair trials in order to rob them of their property, to sentence them to slave labor camps, or even to execute them. But "We the People of the United States" have ordered that there shall be no unfair trials or unfair punishments in this country. Every American citizen enjoys "equal justice under law."
TO INSURE DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY
Before the Constitution was adopted, the United States government had little power to help keep the country peaceful and orderly. After the War for Independence, times were hard. Here and there, some people rebelled against their state governments, and the national government lacked power to help the states. Nor did the government have power to settle disputes between the states, even when these disputes threatened to turn into real warfare.
The Constitution settled such problems as these and has protected our "domestic tranquility" ever since. People now can live without fear of violence. When disagreements arise between states, the states let the national government settle their disagreements justly. If a rebellion should occur, the government has the power to step in and enforce the laws of the country and protect the lives and property of the people.
TO PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE
Our government must do more than keep things peaceful at home. It must also be strong enough to keep enemy nations from conquering this land and taking away our property and lives. There are several clauses in the Constitution that allow our government to take care of the country's changing needs for an army and navy to protect us against a foreign attack.
The United States loves peace and works within the United Nations and in many other ways to keep peace in the world. But we have the strength to fight hard against our enemies, whether they threaten all the states or only one of them. This is called "the common defense." Partly because our Constitution has wise plans for the common defense, our country has never lost a war in all its history.
TO PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE
This phrase states one of the most important ideals of the American people.
When we speak of a person's welfare we mean his health, happiness, and prosperity. "The general welfare" means the health, happiness, and prosperity of everyone. When neighbors help neighbors, they are promoting the general welfare. When private citizens and organizations carry out campaigns and spend huge sums of money helping others, they too are promoting the general welfare.
The makers of the Constitution planned for the government also to promote the general welfare. But they ordered the government to do things that would benefit everyone, and not to help any one person or group of persons at the expense of all the rest—as many foreign governments had done and some still do.
Our national government employs many persons to promote the general welfare. Some workers look after our soil, minerals, forests, and national parks. Others help farmers, manufacturers, and merchants do their jobs better. Still other government employees work to prevent floods, accidents, and the spread of disease.
TO SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY
In 1787, the English colonies in America had already won their liberty and had been states for several years. But Washington, Franklin, Madison, and the others at the Constitutional Convention wished to preserve this liberty so that their posterity—the future generations of Americans—might have liberty too. The Constitution they wrote helps to preserve two kinds of liberty for all of us. First is the liberty of the country, protected against control by foreign countries. Second is the liberty of Americans, guarded from being ruled over unjustly by other Americans who might try to seize the government.
The liberty we enjoy does not make any of us free to do whatever he wants to do whenever he wants to do it. Our liberty does not give us the right to take away the lives and property of others. If that were allowed, one man's liberty would mean another man's loss of liberty. Like justice, liberty must be equal for everybody.
DO ORDAIN AND ESTABLISH THIS CONSTITUTION FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Within a year after the Constitution was written, most of the states decided to ratify or approve it. In April 1789, George Washington became the first President, and the actual building of the new government began.
Under the Articles of Confederation, most of the powers of government belonged to the states and few belonged to the national government. But under the Constitution the powers are more equally divided between state governments and the national government. This system gives our country a federal government.
When a government or any part of it grows too powerful, it may try to take away the people's rights. To meet this danger, the Constitution calls for a separation of powers. That is, the national government has three distinct branches, each with its own separate powers and duties. Each branch helps to keep the other two from doing unwise or unjust things. This arrangement is called a "system of checks and balances," because each branch helps to check and balance the powers of the other two branches. The three branches are: (1) the legislative branch, which makes the laws; (2) the executive branch, which carries out the laws; and (3) the judicial branch, which tries cases in court and explains the meanings of the laws.
The Constitution tells what actions may be taken by the national government and by the state governments. It makes the rules for electing citizens to serve in the national government. It tells what kinds of laws may be made for the nation, how they are to be made, and how they are to be enforced.
After more than one hundred and eighty years, there is still no sign that this rugged Constitution of ours will ever wear out. The United States, once small and weak, has become a large and mighty nation. And, more important than its size and strength, our country is a land of freedom and justice.
In the following pages of this book, you will find the words of the Constitution printed part by part, with explanations of their meaning and importance. You will see how wisely and well the men at the Constitutional Convention did their work for the benefit of all the other Americans coming after them. By understanding the Constitution, you can help to keep it rugged in all the years ahead.
Keep It Rugged America »
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