"The only text we had for the course was the U.S. Constitution. It served Professor Weiss well as a means to help us inquire into legal and political philosophy, into rights and powers and liberties, and their limitations. For the first class, he read from the top of the text: “We, the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union . . .”Then, leaning forward on his cane, he asked, “Who are ‘we’?” We —meaning the small “we” of a handful of students and our teacher — spent the entire first session on that question, and the next several classes on the Preamble alone."

Read Joseph Stuart's essay at National Review.  Happy Constitution Day!

Last year, my son had the opportunity to study history through original source documents.  He didn't read about Lincoln; he read Lincoln. . .and Jefferson and Machiavelli and Aristotle (his notes) and Plato.  He doesn't yet know how valuable that was.  We should study more through original sources.

Thanks, David.