Mentor Resources -- Teaching The US Constitution
“Those who stand for nothing fall for everything. ― Alexander Hamilton”
My 2 Cents
I am going to talk of controversial things. I make no apology for this. I have been talking on this subject for many years. As I am writing it is the dawn of Memorial Day 2020 as most states are still under house arrest and small businesses are under forced closer that started March 22. It seems disingenuous to honor those who died for our freedom under when we put ourselves under house arrest without a fight. From the safety of our homes, we allowed the starving out of small businesses, their resources depleted, and the owners arrested when they opened their doors. We have watched people arrested for fishing on the beach alone, merely trying to put food on the table. This may try to convince us it has have been done in the name of national health, but these “emergency” ordinances defy logic and reasoning, causing more chance of spread of disease then if the people were left to follow their own good judgment.
We have posted a significant number of primary sources and scholarly abstracts supporting that this was not about health but abought dismantling our liberties. (I have encluded some these links but that is not the focus of this post) These tyrannical edicts challenge The US Constitution and the states’ constitutions. It is only autocratic governors that uses state bureaucracies such as Child Protective Servies, Highway Patol, Health Services, and state licensing as weapons to punish political enemies. How did this happen without a shot fired?
In 1897 Professor John Dewey, leading father of the Progressive Movement, published his book My Pedagogic Creed, which sought to reform education following his Progressive ideas.
Over the past 100 years, public schools have produced a social change that has vilified The US Constitution. This social change has allowed a slow, systematic transfer of power from the three branches of our government to unaccountable, unelected regulatory, administrative bureaucracies that regulate every aspect of our everyday lives.
The despotic bureaucracies have the power to write laws, codes, and regulations; implement, enforce, and be judge and jury. There is no separation of powers, and all without representation. We, the people, have let this happen without deliberation, transparency, or questioning. However, during this time of lockdown, many used this time to reflect and educate themselves, form their own opinions, and question what they have been programmed to believe. What follows are some of the tools we use with our students.
We Can Return to Having The US Constitution Being the Law of the Land
We believe, to return our representative constitutional republic, we must create an infectious love for freedom and the Constitution. We all need to learn everything we can about the context leading up to the writing of that document, its framing, and its acceptance. We need to go back to the process of ratifying the original text. On September 1787 The US Constitution was signed by the members of the continental congress it had been an arduous process. However, there was still work to be done. The voters of the states needed to agree that The US Constitution, as written, was “The” solution to fix the mess states and The Confederation was in. The people needed to consent to being governed by this document; to do that they needed to understand it would protect the liberties of the now sovereign citizen. It took John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison to write a series of 85 essays called The Federalist were published in newspapers throughout the states In July 1790, the last state ratified the Constitution. Those three men in 1787 did most of the work for us in creating the Federalists Papers. I have also included the response by Antifederalist Elbridge Gerry, Luther Martin, Melancton Smith, George Mason, Richard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry. These men feared The US Constitution, the document to protect our unalienable rights would in fact, restrict them.
We must read them all, share them with our friends, and get a national deliberation going in support of returning to The US Constitution as written.
Conservative parents lament that public schools do not truly teach The US Constitution; that in US schools it little more than a chapter in our history. At Northwestern Outdoor Leadership Insitute, this is not how we view our Constitution or history. The US Constitution, The Federalist Papers, The Antifederalist Paper, their home state’s constitutions, other supporting documents, and our national history are all taught to our students, at all grade levels. Our students read and write in cursive daily, giving them the ability to read the letters of the framers as written. The students read the letters of Abigal Adams, Marth Washington, and others in their own handwriting (this skill also allows our students to read notes from their own great-grandparents). These documents are woven into our students’ daily lives. Our students’ written goals not only develop in them a love for our Constitution but to have tools to fight for it through deliberation as statesmen and women should.
Here are Some of the Tools We Use
Links to Free PDF of Historic Writings and Document
The Yale Law School Avalon Project
Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute [The US Constitution ](https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution
Hillsdale College
[Hillsdale College Constitution Text Book](http://www.constitutionreader.com/reader.engz?doc=constitution
The State of Idaho Secretary of State The Idaho State Constitution
Links to Free Online Classes Relating to the Constitution
Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College has an outstanding online class offering. We have completed many of their classes all great quality and insightful. Online Classes Catalog
George Wentz
“Before we can understand the importance of The US Constitution, we must first understand the men we call the Founders and Framers, and the context of their writing of The US Constitution. We must then understand how it has been derailed before we can understand why we need to get it back on its tracks and how.” George Wentz
George Wentz is likely one of the three best living conservative US Constitutional attorneys and has offered to teach this timely, ongoing series of US Constitutional Classes for our community church and our students. These classes are password-protected; if you are a member of our school, ask and we will give you the password. If you are a member of the Cocolalla Cowboy Church, ask Julie or Brian.
The US Constitution: Session 3 The Context– George Wentz Georges Slide’s – comming soon. The US Constitution: Session 4 What Went Wrong
Please note session 1 and 2 were not recorded, but in Session 3 Dr. Wentz did a recap.
Link Relating to COVID
Hillsdale Symposium on the Coronavirus
https://www.healingwithouthurting.com/single-post/2020/05/21/Masks-Are-There-Benefits-or-Just-a-Comfort-Prop-Let-the-Facts-Speak?fbclid=IwAR2Gdqa20fBPt-vCfuYh7sD8l52AphSm1x51SO-G0AOEMKyKsmpfgDejfsY
In Summery
It is my hope that you with read and chew on the material above. I hope you light a fire, invite your friends to break bread, and discuss and debate thoughts of these statesmen.
“A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.” ― Alexander Hamilton
