Recommended Article V-Related Reads –
By Stuart MacPhail April 2020
The Road to Americanism – The Constitutional History of the United States is a new book by Dennis Haugh. It is more than “a good read” for people interested in learning more about the history of America, its principle governing document and the drama surrounding its ratification. It also includes numerous interesting and well-documented tidbits not generally found elsewhere.
Haugh presents an easy-to-read study of America’s colonial era (a history of trial and error), and he explores early divides between large colonies/states and small colonies/states during the early years of America. The text is supplemented with numerous charts, graphs and maps.
The author points out that the founding generation developed their constitutional intelligence in a relatively short time. They learned from the creation of state constitutions between 1776 and 1783 (in the midst of the Revolutionary War). He also points out the contributions of Native American diplomats from the Iroquois Confederacy in the Treaty of Lancaster and the influence of Aristotle’s “Best” principles for governance toward construction of the 1787 US Constitution.
The book provides an overview of constitutional amendment issues, histories of amendment conventions and it details the earliest American constitutional amendments. A thorough review of the Constitution’s Fifth Article is included, along with a study of processes related to amending state constitutions.
The 250-page book (plus appendices) is available for $14.99 in paperback HERE.
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Election 2020 challenge: Getting candidates to confront America’s debt problem is a recent article in the Deseret News (Utah). It challenges voters to confront political candidates on America’s growing national debt.
Writer Jay Evensen says, “[I]f they were smart, Americans would be alarmed by some of the writing on their own fiscal wall and, as the election year of 2020 dawns, begin demanding real answers to questions about debt and overspending in this country.” Read his brief piece HERE.
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The John Birch Society v. We the People is another excellent paper by Rodney Dodsworth, posted on March 2. His new piece addresses the John Birch Society’s fixation on Article VI of the Constitution while opposing use of the provisions in Article V.
Dodsworth discusses the “oath or Affirmation, to support [the] Constitution,” and says he joins the JBS in sympathy “in wishing all judges, politicians and bureaucrats followed the letter of the written Constitution,” but says “there are at least two reasons why this is as fanciful as the Left’s dream of perfect social justice.”
He says, “we the sovereign people must do our duty, protect ourselves and our posterity by calling an Article V [convention of states] to restore the Framers’ PROVEN form of government.” Read his brief paper HERE.
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The American Experiment, Revisited by Frank W. Keeney, founder of the reform movement known as Act 2, alleges that “Democracies around the world are in trouble,” including America. He says “We no longer exhibit the old Yankee ingenuity for problem-solving that characterized our early days; rather, we often see rancorous, uncivil discourse and rigid, uncompromising political posturing. How did this happen? Let’s look at the historical record for insights on our situation.”
Keeney’s brief paper reviews the steps that have led America to greatness, identifies problems that currently plague the nation’s governance and offers an outline of “repairs” that can be made. Read his paper HERE.
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