This book was written as a source of information to help many of us, including myself, to understand and appreciate our Constitution. I often hear politicians saying, "Well, that is unconstitutional" without ever saying specifically why. That generalized supposition is not sufficient; we shouldwant to know exactly which Clause they think has been breached, to know why they came to that conclusion, and to be so familiar with our Constitution that we are able to make our own informed judgments.To more clearly understand why the colonists decided to declare independence from Britain, I have included a chapter briefly reviewing the history of America, from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 up through the Constitutional Convention of 1787, discussing why the Articles of Confederation were ineffective in uniting the colonies under a national government, and why a new centralized government was requisite for the survival of America. The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution are examined in detail, referencing which sections of our Constitution attempt to prohibit those specific grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence, committed by the King of England against the colonists, from being repeated by our new Federal Government.The book also contains chapters focusing on the fifty-five Constitutional Convention delegates, some landmark decisions of the Supreme Court based on its right of judicial review, brief histories of the original thirteen states, pertinent quotations from many of the Founding Fathers, and a glossary.
Steve Owen is a graduate petroleum engineer from the University of Oklahoma. After graduating in 1969, he began a career in the oil industry, seemingly far removed from history and government. Ambiguous laws, huge tax burdens, and politicians extorting money disguised as campaigncontributions (to name a few of our problems caused by an excessively large and intrusive federal government) are some of the reasons he decided to assemble this book, attempting to reacquaint himself with American history, our Constitution, and what ordinary citizens can do to protect the future of the United States.