Forward To Freedom: The American Constitution and Humanity's Struggle for Liberty Across the Ages

By Jerry Combee

Forward To Freedom - The American Constitution and Humanity’s Struggle for Liberty Across the Ages is a fast-paced, informative, and inspiring account of the Constitution and its historical roots. It should be a must-read for all citizens of the United States, those aspiring to become its citizens, and others seeking to understand

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publish Authority
• Release date: Jan 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9780996026307

Book preview

Forward to Freedom

The American Constitution and Humanity's

Struggle for Liberty Across the Ages

Second Edition v2

Jerry Combee, Ph.D.

Publish Authority

Newport Beach, CA, - Roswell, GA USA

Contents (Reference)

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Author's Preface

Introduction

Necessity of Government

The Concept of a Constitution

Success of the American Constitution

1. LEADING TO LIBERTY

Constitutional Development in Ancient Times

THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST

Oriental Despotism

Israel

Divine Right of Kings vs. Constitutional Government

CLASSICAL GREECE

Political Science

Socrates

Plato

Aristotle

ROME

The Roman Republic

The Roman Empire

2. FOUNTAIN OF FREEDOM

America’s English Heritage

FROM EMPIRE TO NATION-STATE

ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Common Law

Kings vs. Tyrants

Magna Carta

Parliament

ENGLAND AND THE EARLY MODERN AGE

The Future of Political Freedom in England

Parliament vs. King

The Great Civil War

The English Republic

The Restoration

The Glorious Revolution

Establishing Freedom

The English Constitution

3. CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY

Constitutional Development in Colonial America

BASIC BELIEFS IN COLONIAL AMERICA

The Puritan Exodus

Puritan Political Principles

Thomas Hooker and Connecticut

Roger Williams and Rhode Island

The Real American Revolution

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Self-Government in Colonial America

Toward Tyranny

Independence

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence and the Concept of a Constitution

4. TO SECURE LIBERTY

The Constitutional Convention of 1787

UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

New State Constitutions

The Articles of Confederation

Shays' Rebellion

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

The Call for a Convention

The Men of the Convention

Leading Delegates

The Manner of the Convention

The Virginia Plan

The New Jersey Plan

Provisions of the New Jersey Plan

Conflict and Compromise

Federalism: A Note About Terminology

A Revolutionary Act?

A Bundle of Compromises

A New Order for the Ages

5. THE FOUNDERS PROPOSE

The Political Philosophy of the Constitution

The New Improved Science of Politics

The American Political Consensus

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

The Purpose and End of Government

Government by Consent

A Republican Form of Government

Remedies for Diseases of Republicanism

THE MECHANICS OF GOOD GOVERNMENT

Federalist #10—An Extended Republic

Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances

A note on Parliamentary Government

Federalism

Judicial Review

Political Progress

6. THE PEOPLE DECIDE

The Bill of Rights & The Ratification of the Constitution

RATIFICATION AND THE PROMISE OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Dates of Ratification of the Constitution of the States

The People, Religious Liberty, and the First Amendment

TOWARD THE FIRST AMENDMENT

The Tide of American Opinion

Religious Liberty and the New Science of Politics

Virginia’s Precedent for the Nation

The First Amendment

7. PROVIDENCE

The Constitution, the American Civil Religion, and the Future of Freedom

America’s Civil Religion

The Future of Freedom

A Note on Sources

About the Author

Other Books by the Author

What others are saying about

Forward To Freedom

For Schools, Colleges, Teachers, and All Citizens

Jerry Combee is a serious and highly regarded scholar of American politics and history. This book is an open, comprehensive, fast-paced, and easy to understand overview of America's political history. The finest aspect of the book is the way Dr. Combee brings the philosophical and religious history of Western Civilization to bear on and illuminate the Founding and direction of America. It is a book for teachers, for high school and introductory collegiate classes in American politics, and for all citizens and legislators. I believe religious academies and colleges should especially take note.

— John T. Agresto

This Book Is Amazing!

I have often been in awe of the wisdom of the Founding Fathers who wrote our constitution. To see how radical (for their times) their thinking was and how thoroughly they understood the long-term ramifications of their work is humbling indeed. Until now I did not understand the purpose of the Federalist Papers, and Dr. Combee explains this and more so clearly. I would have liked to have studied this book 50 years ago when I was in high school. I am glad to have read it now.

Forward To Freedom should be required reading for each and every of our U.S. senators and representatives.

—Fred Hinker

5 Stars - Comprehensive Book on the Constitution

I have read many works on political philosophy and history and must say that this book ranks among the best I have encountered. Combee delivers. Most illuminating to me was his discussion of Madison and his views on Factions and how the Constitution is meant to solve them before they become a problem. Also, a quote from Gouverneur Morris about a trip he and Washington took to Valley Forge some 10 years after the Revolution took my breath away.

Comprehensive but fast-paced, this book is well worth reading.

— Amazon.com Reviewer

5 Stars - Enlightening and Educational

I learned here many details regarding the centuries long evolution of the concept of man's unalienable right to freedom. Confirms my belief that a government's role is to be more of a referee than a director.

—Amazon.com cedarphil

5 Stars - A Welcome Positive Note for America in the Current Atmosphere of Slash and Burn Analysis

As a History and Government teacher of long experience, I am always searching for a text that is accessible to my students. This book by Mr. Combee is just that sort of work; clear and concise, with a logical format, steady progression from one topic to the next, and a point of view. ... . I am using this book as a supplemental text for my classes and would recommend it to any teacher for the same.

— Amazon.com BJ

Beautifully Enlightening

The author clearly explains the surprising (to me) origins of the US Constitution. He explains beautifully the history and process that led the Founding Fathers to the development of this incredible never-before-conceived recipe for governance without tyranny. As a young citizen of the United States, I loved it!

—M. Niland

Copyright

Copyright © 2019, 2014,1992 Jerry Combee. All rights reserved.

Forward To Freedom: The American Constitution and

Humanity’s Struggle For Liberty Across the Ages

Second Edition v2

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data has been applied for ISBN: 978-0-9960263-0-7

Dedication

Dedicated to my precious son Trevor

Author's Preface

Since 1789, Americans have venerated the Constitution of the United States. As the oldest written constitution of any nation, it has also been much admired around the world.

The framework of government and institutions of freedom that the Constitution established is the major reason that the United States has been the greatest nation in the history of the world by most any measure. Little wonder that the Constitution and its historical background have played a central role in formal civic education from elementary grades to the college level. Likewise, many general readers have found books on the Constitution and its historical background to be of major interest.

In the daily news, concepts such as separation of powers, checks and balances, limited government and enumerated powers, federalism, judicial review, the meaning of the First Amendment’s guarantees of religious liberty, and other constitutional principles frequently find their way into public policy debates and media commentary. It is essential that citizens correctly understand these principles if they are to hold political leaders accountable for staying within the bounds of the Constitution.

Many books have been written on the Constitution and its historical background. Forward to Freedom: The American Constitution and Humanity’s Struggle for Liberty Across the Ages, however, differs decisively from other works.

First, it contends that for the Constitution’s historical background to be adequately understood, it is insufficient to examine America’s colonial and revolutionary period or even our English political and legal heritage such as representative and limited government, common law, habeas corpus, and trial by jury. The Constitution also reflects the influence of political and moral ideas reaching back to the ancient Greeks and Romans and even earlier.

Second, Forward to Freedom presents history not as a jumbled and ultimately meaningless mass of facts—as what Macbeth said of life, a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing—but as a process under the superintendence of Divine Providence. America’s Founding Fathers, including those who signed the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or both, often spoke of Providence, expressing the belief that God’s guiding hand can be discerned in America’s history. They believed that God had entrusted them with the opportunity to establish free government in America but also to advance the future of freedom for all mankind. Divine Providence is therefore an idea that must be taken as seriously as separation of powers and checks and balances, for example, if we are to understand the minds of the Founding Fathers.

An earlier edition of Forward to Freedom has been read by students in college courses on the Constitution as well as by general readers. I am pleased to report that the book has been favorably received.

In this revised edition, a new detailed table of contents has been prepared as an aid to research, reference, and study. An introduction and a new concluding chapter have been written, while the readability of the earlier edition in contrast to traditional textbooks has been preserved. And the Constitution continues to be given its due as a culminating moment in humanity’s struggle for liberty—past, present, and future.

Publisher’s Note:

There are two Table of Contents in this eBook. The first Table of Contents is a simple site map of the eBook. The second is a detailed Contents (Reference) that contains hyperlinks to the related topic. At the end of major book sections and chapters, there is a hyperlink back ( 🔙 ) to this Contents (Reference) page. There are also hyperlinks in the A Note of Thanks to online websites where you can leave a book review.

Forward To Freedom: The American Constitution and Humanity’s Struggle For Liberty Across the Ages is also available in paperback on-demand online and through the publisher and wherever fine books are sold.

Introduction

In the aftermath of World War II, during his famous 1956 Iron Curtain speech delivered in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill envisioned The permanent prevention of war and the establishment of the conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries. Today the world has moved closer to this goal than anyone at the time of Churchill’s speech might have imagined.

No nation has contributed more to the achievement of this goal than has the United States of America. The United States fought against tyranny in the world wars and protected the Free World against Communism, preserving peace and winning the Cold War. Today America holds back evil through a global war on terror in which it fights yet other enemies of peace, freedom, and democracy. And America still encourages others by its example of a free society, with religious, economic, and political liberty for all.

The American Revolution, so the saying goes, began with a shot heard around the world. It also began with words heard around the world. In the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers claimed rights both for Americans and all men. The New World gave the Old World hope.

The Constitution then completed the American Revolution. It, too, inspired. It provided a model of liberal democracy—election of representatives by the people through free and fair elections plus protection of the freedom and rights of individuals and minorities. It proved by example that a country that threw off a government could also give itself a government—democratic, limited, and constitutional government.

In a very real sense, it was…in 1787, that the Revolution truly began, remarked President Reagan in 1987 during the Bicentennial of the Constitution. For it was with the writing of our Constitution, setting down the architecture of democratic government, that the noble sentiments and brave rhetoric of 1776 took on substance, that the hopes and dreams of the revolutionists could become a living, enduring reality.

All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights—until that moment some might have said that was just a high-blown sentiment, the dreams of a few philosophers and their hotheaded followers. But could one really construct a government, run a country, with such idealistic notions?

But once those ideals took root in living, functioning institutions, once those notions became a nation—well, then, as I said, the revolution could really begin, not just in America but around the world, a revolution to free man from tyranny of every sort and secure his freedom the only way possible in this world, through the checks and balances and institutions of limited, democratic government.

The world has moved forward to freedom. Such has been the direction of human history, thanks in large part to America, to its Constitution and the inspiration it has been to all mankind.

Necessity of Government

The necessity of government derives from human nature and the human condition. If men were angels, wrote James Madison in The Federalist Papers and known as the Father of the American Constitution, no government would be necessary. But men are not angels. Their passions often drive them to disregard the rights of others. That fact of human nature makes government necessary to protect men from each other.

Another feature of human nature is inequality. Men are equal in moral rights and responsibilities. But they are unequal in strength, intelligence, and virtue. What is to prevent the strong from taking advantage of the weak? Conversely, what is to prevent the many who are weaker from gathering their forces against the few who are stronger? What is to prevent men who labor hard and long from being robbed by the lazy and irresponsible? For such problems government provides the only answers.

Yet government itself creates new problems. Men in government are not angels, either. Ideally, government exists to hold back evil, but it can become a source of evil. Rulers can become tempted to abuse their authority. The same human nature that makes government necessary also makes bad government—tyranny—very likely. Indeed, government can bring out the worst side of men. Power corrupts, and as English historian Lord Acton observed, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Moreover, government presents the few with new opportunities to oppress the many. Government also presents new opportunities for the many to oppress the few, particularly as it does in democracies.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this, wrote Madison. You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. The framers of the American Constitution faced this problem. Their solution was constitutional government and a new concept of a constitution.

The Concept of a Constitution

Until very recent times, countries relied on custom, tradition, and ordinary laws to define the structure and functions of their governments.

The Traditional Concept. In the old meaning and traditional sense of the term, a constitution refers to the basic arrangements by which government is conducted. As defined by English statesman Bolingbroke in 1733, a constitution in this sense refers to that assemblage of laws, institutions, and customs… that compose the general system, according to which the community hath agreed to be governed. In that sense every nation has a constitution, although it may be subject to the whim and caprice of an arbitrary despot and honored more in the breech. On the other hand, England has a constitution of this sort, but it is a very effective one.

A New Concept. Except in England for a very brief period in the seventeenth century, the United States was the first great nation to have a written constitution as the basis for its government. Today almost all the nations of the world have followed our example and have written constitutions. Even the former Soviet Union had a written constitution. (It had several, in fact, under communist rule between the revolutions of 1917 and 1991.)

As the example of the Soviet Union suggests, however, some constitutions are not worth the paper they are written on. The Soviet constitution provided for a seemingly very democratic structure, including popular elections, representative assemblies, and a long list of individual rights. But as everyone knows, the reality of Soviet politics was one-man dictatorship. The most basic human rights were denied. Thus it was always a constitution doomed to fail.

America’s great gift to the world is not a piece of paper, but rather a new concept of a constitution.

In modern usage, a true constitution means limited government. It is the concept of a government of limited powers set up by a free