Our Constitution: What It Says, What It Means

An in-depth look at the entire text of the U. S. Constitution, annotated with detailed explanations of its terms and contents. Each Amendment and Article is accompanied by sidebar material on the history of its application, including profiles of important Supreme Court cases, texts of related primary source documents, and contemporary news articles. Double page timelines for several of the Articles and all the Amendments highlight important events and legal cases. Visually stunning, with facsimile reproductions of primary source documents, paintings, phots, and historical artifacts, Our Constitution is perfect for history students.

An in-depth look at the entire text of the U. S. Constitution, annotated with detailed explanations of its terms and contents. Each Amendment and Article is accompanied by sidebar material on the history of its application, including profiles of important Supreme Court cases, texts of related primary source documents, and contemporary news articles. Double page timelines for several of the Articles and all the Amendments highlight important events and legal cases. Visually stunning, with facsimile reproductions of primary source documents, paintings, phots, and historical artifacts, Our Constitution is perfect for history students.

VOYA

Superbly organized, clearly written, and attractively illustrated, this book is an excellent resource for a general study of the Constitution or a starting point for in-depth research. The introduction and five short chapters outline the necessity for a constitution, the type of government it created, the rights it protected, how it expanded, and the struggle interpreting and implementing it. Following this overview, the examination of the actual document begins using the pattern, What It Says (actual words) and What It Means (the explanation). After the Preamble, the seven articles and the twenty-seven amendments are then divided into manageable sections for closer discussion. Article 1, Section 8, clauses 9-11 gives Congress the ability to create a lower federal court system, the right to enact laws to protect American shipping on the seas, and the right to declare war. The ensuing explanation is straightforward, and two sidebars-Formal Declarations of War and A Police Action in Korea (a military response but not a formal declaration of war)-reinforce understanding. An illustrated War Powers Timeline summarizes military responses from 1801 (piracy) to Terrorism in 2001 and acts as another learning tool. Appendixes contain short biographies of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention and outline twenty-one Supreme Court Decisions that have shaped the Constitution. Further Reading (subdivided into topics such as Amending the Constitution) facilitates specific research. Web sites and a list of Museums and Historic sites related to the constitution also provide opportunities for expanded study. The text supplemented by sidebars, political cartoons, and time lines is informative andinteresting, but the organizational pattern of this reference is its strong suit. This book is an essential purchase for schools, libraries, civic organizations, and private citizens concerned about protecting the rights and liberties guaranteed under the Constitution.

U.S. Senate Historical Office