Protestantism

» Brian Tubbs - Recommended study

I recognize that Pink to some extent and Migisi especially don't care much for what I have to offer since I'm young and get my information from George W. Bush reading bedtime stories to me at night, but...

If you really are interested in learning about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, I would recommend these sources...

1. Find a good founding era TIMELINE - so you can put everything in some chronological perspective.

Here's a basic one for kids...

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/arti...

I'm not saying you're a kid, but this is a helpful timeline.

2. Take this quiz on the 1760s...

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/us_f...

3. Read the Declaration of Independence

4. Read the Articles of Confederation - which were debated and approved by the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War

5. Read the Constitution itself - If you want to know about the Constitution, read it word-for-word. Start with the original (it was submitted to the states in 1787 as the original articles - no bill of rights, no amendments) and then read up on the amendments.

6. Read the Bill of Rights and the subsequent amendments

7. Double-check and refer back to your timeline as you do the above steps.

8. Now that you're familiar with the timeline and have read the actual major founding documents, you're ready to dig deeper into the context and personalities....here are some recommended books and website sources for that....

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon...

***The Avalan Project (above) is a GREAT source of original documents

http://www.earlyamerica.com/

***Archiving Early America - a GREAT online resource

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/us_f...

***Sorry for the personal plug, but I wrote this article about a forgotten but important founding era leader

http://www.rayraphael.com/take_a_quiz.htm

***This is a great quiz from a historian right up Pink's alley -- Ray Raphael (a protege of Howard Zinn). A great quiz. Highly recommended!

Books....

I recommend the following on the founding era:

*The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

*Common Sense by Thomas Paine

*the diary of Revolutionary War soldier Joseph Plumb Martin
---You can read excerpts from it at the link below...

http://www.ushistory.org/march/other/mar...

*John Adams by David McCullough

--Pulitzer Prize winner

*1776 by David McCullough

*Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fisher

*George Washington's War by Bruce Chadwick

*George Washington's War by Robert Leckie

*The First American Army by Bruce Chadwick

*A People's History of the American Revolution by Ray Raphael

--I do recommend Raphael's book, Pink. I just don't recommend you make that the ONLY book you read on the founding era. It's fine to read historians like Zinn and Raphael - but there are OTHER historians too.

Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787 by the Colliers

Miracle in Philadelphia by Catherine Bowen

Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis

--A Pulitzer Prize winner

Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins of America by Thomas G. West

--No one should read anything which condemns the Founders without also reading West's book!

And there are many more. I'm just scratching the surface, but the above list should keep you busy.

FOR FUN...read Jeff Shaara's novel Rise to Rebellion. Great fiction which is actually pretty well researched and probably pretty close to what happened!

For a review of Shaara's book, go to the link below...

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/us_f...

--Since I liked it, you probably won't want to read it.

DO READ UP up on GEORGE MASON, who is regarded by many as the father of the national bill of rights!

I of course understand that my recommendations may incline you to do anything BUT what I suggest. After all, I'm young and I'm a Republican. Oh, and Heaven forbid, I'm a Christian. So, what can I know, right? But, maybe - just maybe - I have something of value to offer. Hard to fathom, esp for people like Migisi, I know. But it IS possible. It really is.