ALSO BY BEN CARSON, MD
WITH CANDY CARSON
One Nation
One Vote
America the Beautiful
WITH CECIL MURPHEY
Gifted Hands
Think Big
WITH GREGG LEWIS
Take the Risk
The Big Picture
WITH GREGG LEWIS AND DEBORAH SHAW LEWIS
You Have a Brain: A Teen’s Guide to Think Big
SENTINEL
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This book is dedicated to “we the people” and the millions of people who sacrificed so much in the past so that we could be free.
CONTENTS
ALSO BY BEN CARSON, MD
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
FOREWORD BY AMBASSADOR C. BOYDEN GRAY
A QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
CHAPTER 1
OUR GUIDE TO FREEDOM
CHAPTER 2
HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION
THE SACRED PRINCIPLES
CHAPTER 3
WE THE PEOPLE
CHAPTER 4
IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION
CHAPTER 5
ESTABLISH JUSTICE AND ENSURE DOMESTIC TRANQUILLITY
CHAPTER 6
PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE
CHAPTER 7
PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE
CHAPTER 8
SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY
THE CONSTITUTION ITSELF
CHAPTER 9
ARTICLE 1, THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
CHAPTER 10
ARTICLE 2, THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
CHAPTER 11
ARTICLE 3, THE JUDICIAL BRANCH
CHAPTER 12
ARTICLES 4–7
CHAPTER 13
THE BILL OF RIGHTS
CHAPTER 14
LATER AMENDMENTS
CHAPTER 15
A CALL TO ACTION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
APPENDIX:
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
NOTES
INDEX
FOREWORD
AMBASSADOR C. BOYDEN GRAY
I first met Dr. Carson at my home during an event for the Carsons’ Scholars Fund. One of the first things that struck me about him was his wide-ranging interests in fields unrelated to medicine. An expert in neurosurgery, he was not content to rest on his laurels. Instead, he surrounded himself with highly accomplished individuals from other fields and was eager to learn from them. Even more surprising, he already seemed to know quite a bit about the industries he was asking about.
As an ambassador, I have expertise in law and diplomacy, and it’s rare to see someone who understands the challenges of government as well as Dr. Carson does. Though he has never held office, Dr. Carson has insight into the causes of our nation’s problems that is keener than that of most elected officials’. He sees how essential a proper understanding of the Constitution is to America’s freedom, and that’s why I’m so excited to see this book.
Dr. Carson compellingly argues that every American should know what the Constitution actually says. The American people’s current lack of familiarity with our founding document is undermining our liberties, and Dr. Carson wants to stop the erosion before it is too late. Rather than waiting for someone else to act, he has provided an excellent primer to remedy this basic ignorance.
In this highly readable layman’s introduction to the key elements of the Constitution, Dr. Carson explains why limited government and the separation of powers are necessary for the preservation of liberty. He offers a compelling explanation of the dangers of big government and the benefits of restraining it.
Dr. Carson’s ability to weave in stories from his own extraordinary experience as one of the country’s leading pediatric neurosurgeons makes A More Perfect Union all the more intriguing. His storytelling ability is one of the charms and values of his volume that will make the Constitution come alive for every reader.
Finally, A More Perfect Union actually does help make the Constitution come alive because of who the author is. As I learned when I first met him, he has an amazing breadth of expertise beyond medicine. Readers of his earlier books already know of his belief in the importance of education for every American, and we also know of the effectiveness of his Carson Scholars Fund. Now, Americans will also learn that, along with his accomplishments in medicine and education, he has a firm grasp of the rule of law underpinning our country—a pretty remarkable combination for a once underprivileged child from Detroit.
THE CONSTITUTION AND TODAY’S ISSUES
A QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
Balanced Budget
Congress’s power to borrow: here, here
Dangers of debt: here
Environmental Preservation: here
Executive Overreach
Abuses: here, here
Appropriate executive powers: here, here
Limits on executive power: here, here, here
Foreign Relations
Congressional power to declare war: here, here
President’s powers: here, here
Response to radical Islamic terrorism: here
Health Care: here, here
Immigration Policy: here
Judicial Overreach
Abuses today: here, here
Appropriate judicial powers: here, here
Limits: here, here, here
Marriage
Importance of traditional definition here
Legitimacy of civil unions: here
Protecting Innocent Life: here
Religious Liberty: here, here, here
Right to Bear Arms: here, here, here
States’ Rights
Benefits of: here
Institution of: here, here, here, here
Limits of: here
Threats to: here
Taxation
Congress’s power: here,
here, here here, here
Fairness of flat tax: here
Voter Fraud: here, here
Welfare
Dangers of dependency: here
Benefits of private charity: here
CHAPTER 1
OUR GUIDE TO FREEDOM
“Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers set up by previous generations.”
Proverbs 22:28
I have been privileged to travel to more than fifty countries, and each time I return I am more thankful that I was born in the United States. Many ungrateful people like to denigrate our nation. They act as if America were the source of evil in the world and a nation to be escaped, but the large number of people risking life and limb to enter this nation illegally tells a different story. In this nation, people know they can realize their dreams through their own efforts. We can move to any part of the country without permission from someone else. We have freedom to say whatever we want to say and to believe whatever we want to believe.
These liberties we enjoy do not exist by accident. They have not been preserved by luck. We have a governing document, the Constitution of the United States, which outlines the freedoms of the American people and establishes a nation where those freedoms are protected and honored. Written carefully by wise men, our Constitution has stood the test of time, propelling America from a position of obscurity to the highest pinnacle of the world in record time.
As governments of other nations have risen to power, become tyrannical, and fallen, the Constitution and its defenders have kept America on a steady course, free from a government that imposes the will of elites on the people. Countries like France, which has had many revolutions since its initial escape from monarchy in the eighteenth century, have struggled to find stable freedom, but the Constitution has lasted. Guarded carefully by watchful citizens, it stands firm against tyranny of any sort, but it is flexible enough to allow for compromise when necessary. Governed by this document’s seven articles, Bill of Rights, and later amendments, America has been safe, stable, and prosperous for more than two hundred years and is going strong.
Students of history will recognize the achievement that the Constitution is. Not only has it lasted, but it inverts the tyrannical patterns that have guided most nations through history. Instead of working to protect those in power, the Constitution defends the people from government encroachments. Instead of setting up ways to monitor citizens, it provides ways of keeping leaders accountable to citizens. Constitutional government recognizes and bows to the will of a godly, educated population. Under the Constitution, our government follows the model set out by Thomas Jefferson: “A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.”1 American government has lasted, and our nation has prospered, specifically because the Constitution has kept the government out of the way.
As James Madison said, “If it be asked what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer, the genius of the whole system, the nature of just and constitutional laws, and above all the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America—a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it.”2 He and the other founders knew that people naturally tend to attempt to enhance their own position and power at the expense of others. This is not a characteristic of one specific race or group of people but is a common weakness among mankind in general.
Recognizing the danger of human nature, our founders wisely created a Constitution that would curtail federal power, building in checks and balances. But they also knew that a good system was not enough. If the people were not vigilant and knowledgeable about the laws and their observation, the government would expand, gradually insinuating itself into every aspect of daily living and eroding Americans’ freedoms. Not many years after the Constitution was ratified, Andrew Jackson warned the nation: “But you must remember, my fellow citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your States as well as in the Federal Government.”3
Sometimes tyranny begins subtly so that only alert citizens can spot it. Many of the founders feared that like so many other societies before us, we would not be vigilant and would allow our freedoms to be taken away by seemingly beneficial laws. Thomas Jefferson warned, “Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”4 For instance, the government may say everyone deserves a college education and announce a program of wealth redistribution in order to make sure that everyone has a fair chance in an increasingly sophisticated world. On the surface this seems like a noble goal and could gain a lot of popular support. The problem with this kind of thinking is that it introduces a type of top-down government that allows a group of elites to determine what is good for the society. It would be wiser to let the society determine what’s good for itself and what kind of government it wishes to have through ballot initiatives and through their representatives.
Our founders put a great deal of time, effort, and money into the development of the Constitution. They desperately wanted to ensure that this was not wasted effort and that our government would remain centered on the people. They fully understood that they themselves were highly educated and exceptionally intelligent individuals who had accomplished a great deal in their own right, but they worked to make the Constitution simple enough for everyone. Unlike many of the lengthy and complex bills that are passed by Congress today, our Constitution, not counting the twenty-seven amendments, is less than seventeen pages long. Not only is it small enough to fit in a pocket and short enough to be read in one sitting, but the Constitution is also relatively simple and easy to understand. From the beginning, it was designed to be read by the common people—because the founders knew that the Constitution was for everyone, not just the elite.
The founders were right to take precautions. There is a movement among some elite thinkers today to say that the Constitution is too complicated for the average reader. Some legal scholars insist that the phrases in the Constitution do not mean what they say, and politicians torture the Constitution’s vocabulary, distorting its meaning in order to further their own agendas. When an average citizen protests, these elite thinkers respond condescendingly, saying that constitutional scholarship is a matter for experts, not for voters.
Nothing could be further from the truth. While the Constitution is indeed complex, it is simple enough to be understood by anyone with a basic education. While many of the founders were lawyers, many of the signers were businessmen or doctors. If they understood freedom enough to write the Constitution, you shouldn’t have to be a lawyer to understand it today.
Unfortunately, the elites may be right in saying that among the average adult population in America, knowledge about how our government actually works is sorely lacking. Compared with the amount of knowledge about civics that was required to obtain a middle-school certificate in the late 1800s (during which time public education ended with a middle-school certificate), the knowledge of most adults today is severely deficient.
This ignorance was one of the founders’ worst fears. They were uncertain about the resolve of the American people to maintain a high level of education and interest in the affairs of government. They knew that it would be impossible to preserve the level of liberty being granted to the American people unless the people themselves were a reservoir of knowledge. John Adams said, “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.”5 Thomas Jefferson said, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free . . . it expec
ts what never was and never will be.”6
True to Jefferson’s prediction, the biggest threat to the maintenance of freedom in America in our time is lack of knowledge. Though almost every American citizen knows that we have a Constitution, few have studied it carefully, and even fewer are standing up to protect it now that it is under attack. Many Americans have never read our governing document, and many are ignorant of the liberties it guarantees and the procedures it has set up. The good news is that this can be remedied. Education is open to all, and the fact that you are reading this book is a good sign that you are ready to become a more informed American citizen. Perhaps you already know and love the Constitution and just want to learn more about it. Or perhaps this is your first effort to educate yourself. Either way, you will find much to inspire you in the following chapters. You will learn about the history of the Constitution and about its framers. You will learn about the Constitution’s governing principles as they are laid out in its preamble. You will learn about the structure of the Constitution. Most important, you will learn what you can do to defend it. After all, it is only through the efforts of millions of Americans like you that our “more perfect union” can be preserved for future generations.
CHAPTER 2
HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32
A little knowledge of history can go a long way. I learned this firsthand as a child. When I was thirteen years old, my mother needed to buy a car because our old Oldsmobile was on its last legs. She saved every nickel, dime, and quarter, and to the shock of everyone had the necessary funds to buy a new car when the need arose. This time, though, she considered a used car, which was only one year old and was absolutely beautiful. It was a 1964 convertible Ford Galaxie, black with a red interior. My brother Curtis and I were completely taken with the car, but my mother was somewhat skeptical. With a little research, she was able to discover the history of the vehicle and learned that it was an absolute lemon. If she had bought that car, she would also have bought a lot of heartache.
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