The ConstitutionPaul Finkelman, recognized expert on Constitutional law, offers readers a carefully researched but highly readable look at the document that is the blueprint of American democracy. He begins by showing how ineffective the Confederation government was in dealing with the problems facing the newly independent republic: no uniform laws among states, no courts to settle arguments, no power to collect taxes. Then the reader sits in on the Constitutional Convention, where arguments about how to balance power between large and small states and how to count slaves as part of the population are among the key issues. They will learn about the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, the Connecticut Plan, and the Three-fifths Compromise, and meet some of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists who argued the Constitution's pros and cons until it was finally ratified and became the law of the land. 48 pages.
The Emancipation Proclamation
This book describes the roots of slavery in the United States, why some people and states were for it and others were opposed to it, why President Lincoln issued the proclamation when he did, whom the proclamation freed and whom it did not, and some of the effects it had on future events. Readers learn about the differences between northern and southern economies, how slavery became a states rights issue, how Congress struggled to maintain a balance between free and slave states, and how Lincoln's election forced 11 southern states to leave the Union and hastened the beginning of the Civil War. Includes text of the Proclamation itself as well as related amendments. 40 pages.
The Declaration of Independence
Judith Lloyd Yero's lively, interactive book takes a close look at the document that defines democracy in the United States and the events that led to the country's creation. Learn about the escalation of unrest caused by the King's tax and trade laws, which culminated in the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. Period illustrations dramatize the evolution of the Declaration itself, and brief biographies highlight key figures such as Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson.
The document's four sections are examined: the preamble, the list of beliefs, the list of 27 complaints against the King, and the formal statement of independence. The text also discusses the ''unfinished business'' of the Declaration, such as slavery and women's rights, and stresses the need to protect the rights enshrined in the document.
Included in the backmatter are the complete text of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson's rough draft, and a portion of the Constitution of Virginia, which served as a model for the list of grievances against the King, with a Website reference to the entire document.
The Bill of Rights
Judith Lloyd Yero's thought-provoking text, coupled with carefully selected images from the past and present, challenge young readers to carefully examine and understand the Constitution's first ten Amendments, which guarantee their basic human rights. In addition to defining these rights, Yero puts them into the context of present-day life so that kids will recognize that the Bill of Rights is as important to their daily lives as it was to the lives of the first citizens of the newly independent United States. Included in the back matter are the full text of the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and the Miranda Rights. 40 pages.
The Mayflower Compact
The eagerly-awaited final title in National Geographic's popular American Documents series completes the broad sweep of the collection by casting all the way back to our country's original document of record, the Mayflower Compact.
The date is November 10, 1620. After 66 days at sea crammed into a space about the size of a basketball court, the Pilgrims—as the 101 surviving passengers of the Mayflower became known—arrived on America's shores. They were an ocean away from their home country and hundreds of miles from where they were supposed to settle in the Virginia Colony. To survive in the wilderness of this strange, new land, they would need some rules for governing themselves and their community. The document they wrote is known as the Mayflower Compact. In fewer than 200 words, it laid the groundwork for democracy in America.
The Mayflower Compact includes:
- an engaging, interactive, and age-appropriate text, vetted by experts
- 40 pages generously illustrated with period artwork and archival photographs
- biographies of key figures in the document's history
- the entire text of the original document and a complete list of its signatories
- excerpt from Mourt's Relation, written by Edward Winslow and William Bradford, two of the colony's founding fathers
- the charter of the Colony of New Plymouth
- Web links to further information
- a detailed glossary and index
The core curriculum topics of pre-colonial and colonial American history are viewed through the prism of this cornerstone document and students are made aware of its relevance to their 21st century lives. This book is essential for any school, public, or home library. The Mayflower Compact acts as a valuable reminder of the time when America was merely an ideal being shaped in the minds of our forefathers, eager to escape oppression and create a better world.
