In For Ourselves and Our Posterity: The Preamble to the Federal Constitution in American History, author Peter Charles Hoffer offers a sweeping, dramatic narration of a crucial moment in Early American history. Over the course of five days in September 1787, five men serving on an ad hoc "Committee of Style and Arrangement" edited the draft of the federal Constitution at the Constitutional Convention, profoundly recasting the wording of the Preamble. In so doing, the committee changed a federation into a Union and laid out an ambitious program for national governance many years ahead of its time. The Preamble and all that it came to represent was the unique achievement of a remarkable group of men at a momentous turning point in American history. Providing a clear exposition of constitutional issues, For Ourselves and Our Posterity features individual portraits of the leading framers at the heart of this dramatic event.

Ketcham delves not only into the meaning of the documents but also into the connotations of the framers' vocabulary, the reasoning behind both accepted and rejected propositions, arguments for and against, and unstated assumptions. In his analysis, the fundamental or enduring principles are republicanism, liberty, public good, and federalism (as part of the broader doctrine of balance of powers).

A landmark work of more than one hundred scholars, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution is a unique line-by-line analysis explaining every clause of America's founding charter and its contemporary meaning. In this fully revised second edition, leading scholars in law, history, and public policy offer more than two hundred updated and incisive essays on every clause of the Constitution. From the stirring words of the Preamble to the Twenty-seventh Amendment, you will gain new insights into the ideas that made America, important debates that continue from our Founding, and the Constitution's true meaning for our nation

Originally published in 1870, this essay by the American anarchist and political philosopher Lysander Spooner is here reproduced. Described by Murray Rothbard as “the greatest case for anarchist political philosophy ever written”, Spooner’s lengthy essay is still referenced by anarchists and philosophers today. In it, he argues that the American Civil War violated the US Constitution, thus rendering it null and void. An indispensable read for political historians both amateur and professional alike. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Revitalizing America takes an in-depth look at the promises of democracy made to Americans and the world, and the betrayals of those promises. The promises laid out in the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Gettysburg Address and the Pledge of Allegiance have created a Santa Claus type myth about our government that is shattered every day in the world of real politics. The victims are "we the people."Our grievances can be recited just as the American revolutionists called out the king's offenses in the Declaration of Independence. They run the gamut from violations of human and civil rights, massive secret tests using poisonous materials on the citizenry without public knowledge or consent to old fashioned bribery and greed of public officials. It's our duty to remember our country was born through a revolution, and we must revitalize our democracy through a political and economic revolution. The people need to take back the government. www.revitalizeamericanow.org

The author traces his family's experiences immigrating to the U.S. to introduce the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, explaining how it represents America's democratic values and discussing the importance of the documents' history.