A Letter from Cathy Gillespie re: Analyzing the Constitution

As we come to the end of our 90 Day Journey Analyzing the United States Constitution, I want to join Constituting America Founder and Co-Chair Janine Turner in thanking all those who made this study possible.  We thank our talented and generous constitutional scholars who participated:

David Addington
Vice President for Domestic and Economic Policy
The Heritage Foundation

Steven H. Aden, Esq.
Senior Counsel
Alliance Defense Fund

Prof. Bill Allen
Michigan State University

John S. Baker
Professor of Law Emeritus
Louisiana State University Law School

Andrew Baskin, Attorney
Director of Education & Volunteers
The Constitutional Sources Project

James D. Best
Author of Tempest At Dawn 

David J. Bobb, Ph.D.
Director and Lecturer in Politics
Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship
Hillsdale College

Justin Butterfield
Constitutional Attorney, Liberty Institute

Robert Chapman-Smith
Instructional Design Associate, Bill of Rights Institute 

Horace Cooper
Legal Commentator and a Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute 

Carol Crossed
Owner and President
Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum

Cynthia Dunbar
Asst. Prof. of Law
Liberty University School of Law

William Duncan
Director, Marriage Law Foundation

Scot Faulkner
Executive Director
The Dreyfuss Initiative

Colin Hanna
President, Let Freedom Ring

Allison Hayward
Vice President of Policy, Center for Competitive Politics 

Hadley Heath
Senior Policy Analyst, Independent Women’s Forum

Scot Faulkner
Executive Director
The Dreyfuss Initiative

Troy Kickler
Founding Director of the North Carolina History Project

Joerg W. Knipprath
Professor of Law, Southwestern Law School

David B. Kopel
Research Director, Advanced Constitutional Law
Denver University, Sturm College of Law

Marc Lampkin
Quinn Gillespie and Associates

Andrew Langer
President
The Institute for Liberty

Gary McCaleb
Senior Counsel
Alliance Defense Fund

Dan Morenoff
Attorney

Prof. Will Morrisey
Hillsdale College

Joe Postell
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs

Jeff Reed
Former Constitutional Law Professor, Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky 

Professor Charles Rice
Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Notre Dame

Judge Jim Rogan
Superior Court of California 

Tara Ross
Author, Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College

Dr. Charles K. Rowley
Duncan Black Professor of Economics at George Mason University and General Director of The Locke Institute

George Schrader
Student of Political Science, Hillsdale College

Prof. Kyle Scott
Department of Political Science
University of Houston

Mr. Kelly Shackelford
President and CEO of Liberty Institute

Julia Shaw
Research Associate and Program Manager
B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies

Larry Spiwak
Lawrence J. Spiwak
President, Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies

W. David Stedman
Editor, Our Ageless Constitution

Nathaniel Stewart
Attorney

Paul S. Teller, Ph.D.
Executive Director of the Republican Study Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives

Kevin Theriot
Senior Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund

And we thank our hardworking and dedicated project director and coordinator, who spent many late nights posting essays, and organizing the various contributions:  Horace Cooper and Amanda Hughes

We thank those of you who have read these essays and joined in the discussion, blogging your thoughts!  We invite you to spread the word and let your friends, civic groups, and personal network know about the resources that exist on the pages of Constituting America! We invite more to join our Constitutional dialogue! 

A special thank you goes to Constituting America National Youth Director, Juliette Turner, who has tirelessly interpreted these erudite essays for kids (and adults like me who need the extra help sometimes in understanding!), crafting each into “Constitutional Fun Facts”!   Please check out Juliette’s Blog for Kids at: http://www.constitutingamerica.org/juliette/

But most of all, I would like to thank Constituting America Founder and Co-Chair Janine Turner who had the creative vision for this project, and whose daily energy and enthusiasm drives Constituting America! 

What an undertaking to spend 90 Days studying this brilliant document, section by section, amendment by amendment, and at times clause by clause.  But yet, study we must. To protect our rights and our liberties, we must first know them, and understand them.

The Constitution of the United States of America is the world’s longest surviving written charter of government.  This miracle, a product of the brilliant minds of our founding fathers, rooted in their study of government, knowledge of history, and profound understanding of the nature of man, has survived because “we the people,” have cared enough for it to survive. 

For 224 years, each generation of Americans has passed this torch of knowledge and liberty to the next.  John Adams gave us this charge: “Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.” But how can we instruct our children if we aren’t educated ourselves?

The mission of Constituting America is to help our generation pass the torch to the next, in ways that new generations of Americans can relate to, engage with, and understand! We thank you for joining us in this mission, and for your enthusiastic participation! 

Sincerely,

Cathy Gillespie
Co-Chair, Constituting America

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