Getting to Know The Foundation Documents of America

I have a little booklet, about the size of a 3-inch by 5-inch card. It has 58 pages and one can very easily fit it into a shirt pocket. Printed on the pages of this little booklet you will find the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States of America, and all of the Amendments to the Constitution. Then, seven pages are a Preface, telling the story of the documents, written by the Cato Institute, the organization that printed it.

Actually, it is amazing. Here in a little pocket book is the law of our land; the basic documents on which our entire government is built. It is easy reading and seems very clear, at least to a layman. It is the foundation for the greatest democracy in the world.

The more I refer to this little pocket book, the more I conclude that we - as Americans - have made a big mistake in the way we educate ourselves and our children about our country. We lump the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution with its Amendments in a big, fat textbook that has several hundred pages, and call it Social Studies ... just as if all that other stuff is as important as these basic laws. That is wrong.

I have come to the conclusion we should give each of our kids one of these little pocket books, and teach a course based on it, at least three times during their education. And then test them on it. We would be well served if we had a stronger focus on the foundation beliefs that make this nation great.

This is Gordon Sawyer, from a window on historic Green Street.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/8/174753