VII. The Constitution
Personal Guaranties Grouped Under The Title "The Short Constitution"
We now take up the subject of the Constitution of the United States. It is important because it is the foundation of the rights and liberties of all Americans. It relates to the rights and liberties of everyone in this room. It is our great charter.
Gladstone, the great English statesman, once said, “It is the greatest work ever struck off at any one time by the mind and purpose of man.”[35] It is quite a long document. I want every one of us to read it carefully and study it thoroughly.
The larger part of the Constitution consists of provisions telling of the qualifications and manner of election of the President, Senators, and congressmen, the powers and duties of the various parts of our government, procedure of government, and the relations of the Nation and the States. These are important.
But more important still are the ways in which the Constitution guarantees the rights, liberties, and privileges of all men, women, and children who live under the American flag. These guaranties are numerous, but they are briefly stated. Any of us can understand them if we but read them carefully and catch their meaning. It ought not to be difficult to cause a person to study the things which relate to himself, to the most important things in his own life. Liberty we prize most dearly. Everyone of these guaranties in the Constitution is intended to guard and protect the freedom and liberty which you and I enjoy.[36]
To make our task more simple, I have selected from the [pg 056] Constitution those sections which deal with our privileges as American citizens. You can see them in the copy of the Constitution which you have. (See page [217].) I have grouped these together and for convenience I shall call it “The Short Constitution”. As you can see, there is nothing in it that is not in the original Constitution. It is just as if I had taken a pair of shears, cut out these phrases from the Constitution, and pasted them together. It makes it more convenient for us.
Take this “Short Constitution” home with you. Bring it with you when you come to school. Talk with your father and mother about it. It may be that sometime a knowledge of these rights that every American citizen now has may save to you your home, your freedom, or your life.