The Founding Fathers Guide to the Constitution

by Brion McClanahan

Overview

What Does the Constitution Really Mean?

Are liberals right when they cite the “elastic” clauses of the Constitution to justify big government? Or are conservatives right when they cite the Constitution’s explicit limits on federal power? The answer lies in a more basic question: How did the founding generation intend for us to interpret and apply the Constitution? Professor Brion McClanahan, popular author of The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to the Founding Fathers, finds the answers by going directly to the source—to the Founding Fathers themselves, who debated all the relevant issues in their state constitutional conventions.
In The Founding Fathers’ Guide to the Constitution, you’ll discover:

• How the Constitution was designed to protect rather than undermine the rights of States
• Why Congress, not the executive branch, was meant to be the dominant branch of government—and why the Founders would have argued for impeaching many modern presidents for violating the Constitution
• Why an expansive central government was the Founders’ biggest fear, and how the Constitution—and the Bill of Rights—was designed to guard against it
• Why the founding generation would regard most of the current federal budget—including “stimulus packages”—as unconstitutional
• Why the Founding Fathers would oppose attempts to “reform” the Electoral College
• Why the Founding Fathers would be horrified at the enormous authority of the Supreme Court, and why the Founders intended Congress, not the Court, to interpret federal law
  

Authoritative, fascinating, and timely, The Founding Fathers’ Guide to the Constitution is the definitive layman’s guide to America’s most important—and often willfully misunderstood—historical document.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621570530
Publisher:	Skyhorse Publishing
Publication date:	05/20/2013
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Brion McClanahan is author of The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to the Founding Fathers and holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in American history from the University of South Carolina. Born in Virginia, he attended high school in Delaware and received a B.A. in history from Salisbury University in Maryland. He lives with his wife and children near Phenix City, Alabama, just across the river from Columbus, Georgia.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Preamble 7

Chapter 2 The Legislative Branch 15

Chapter 3 The Executive Branch 89

Chapter 4 The Judiciary 133

Chapter 5 Miscellaneous Subjects 145

Chapter 6 Amendments and a Bill of Eights 173

Appendix A 199

Appendix B 229

Acknowledgments 235

Notes 237

Index 255

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Founding Fathers Guide to the Constitution

“For generations, left-wing judges, professors, and lawyers have told us that we can never know what the Constitution was supposed to mean, so judges are free to do what they want. Yet, in The Founding Fathers’ Guide to the Constitution , Brion McClanahan gives us a clear, clause-by-clause explanation of the original understanding of the Constitution. Constitutional government is possible, if only officials would be true to their oaths.”
—Kevin R. C. Gutzman, J.D., Ph.D., author of The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to the Constitution

“The Constitution for the United States, like all human creations, has been changed by the inescapable ravages of time. Not only the passage of time, but ambition, rent-seeking, ignorance, deception, misunderstanding, ideology, and the lust for power have encrusted our basic instrument of government with layer upon layer of false assumptions and distorted postures that have blocked us from knowing its real meaning and intent. Dr. McClanahan, with insight, painstaking effort, and that rare thing, plain common sense, has presented here as good a picture as we will get of what the Constitution really meant to those who wrote and ratified it. This book is not only a notable feat of historianship, but also an important exercise of citizenship that will enlighten those who yearn for truth.”
—Clyde N. Wilson, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of History, University of South Carolina

“Professor McClanahan provides us with an invaluable window into the intent of all the Framers. This book can best be described as intellectual hard medicine. The readers’ minds will be purged of all the nonsense they have been taught about the Constitution so they can see the document as intended by the founding generation that produced it.”
—Dr. Marshall DeRosa, Professor of Political Science, Florida Atlantic University

“Brion McClanahan’s Founding Fathers’ Guide to the Constitution takes the guesswork out of what the Founders intended. It’s all here, in their own words, which any layman can understand—and just as important, use as the standard to assess the wayward judges, congressmen, and executives of our federal government.”
—Thomas E. Woods, Jr., bestselling author of The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to American History and Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse

From the Publisher

McClanahan (history, Chattahoochee Valley Community Coll.) has written a strict constructionist's guide to the Constitution. Taking the Constitution line by line, from the preamble through the Bill of Rights, he reprints the relevant text then offers snippets from contemporary debates to support his views. The book aims to convince readers that the Constitution's meaning can be derived solely from the writings and speeches of both well- and lesser-known Founding Fathers. What appears to be a more scholarly companion piece to McClanahan's previous Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers, this book correspondingly has more extensive endnotes. Regardless of one's political views, the book has a clear agenda and places those who debated the Constitution in a historical vacuum. In contrast, Ray Raphael's Founders: The People Who Brought You a Nation covers many of the personalities and debates in McClanahan's book but discusses their affiliations and current events. VERDICT While this title can be useful for those wanting a literal introduction to the debates surrounding the Constitution, there is no way to evaluate the sources without knowledge of the accompanying history.—Harry Charles, St. Louis, MO

Library Journal