There Were Giants in the Land: Episodes in the Life of W. Cleon Skousen

There Were Giants in the Land: Episodes in the Life of W. Cleon Skousen by W. Cleon Skousen, Jo Ann Skousen and Mark Skousen

W. Clean Skousen's family members assembled an autobiography from his journals. Skousen was born in Canada, then served a church mission in Europe and then came to live in the USA. He spent time working for J Edgar Hoover in the FBI. He was later a university professor and a police chief before focussing on his National Center for Constitutional Studies. The organization advocated a conservative focus on the study of the constitution and it's religious basis. In addition to the political writings, he also wrote parenting works and a "thousand years" series of books on the Old Testament. He was very devoted to his organization and his brand of conservative principles. However, he had trouble with others that differed in the way to run things. His anti-communist beliefs were perfect for the cold war mentality and seemed to reach the mainstream peak during the Reagan era. After the end of the cold war, his relevance appeared to wane.

Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution

Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood

This book explores the background under which the US constitution was created. The time was different from today (and what we think of back then.) Land was abundant. Concepts of "representation" were different from what we have today. Travel was difficult. The colonies were all fairly independent. The results that were created were only done after significant compromise. The discussions on slavery were especially interesting. Prior to the time, it was fairly common for people to "own" other people and have the ability to trade their contracts, whether they be short term or long term. Indentured servitude was a primary means that people used to come to America. Lifetime generational slavery was on its way out. It was even falling out of favor in places like Virginia. The writers of the constitution didn't even mention it. I wonder what would have happened if they did not use the 3/5 compromise to attract the south? Would they have simply stayed on their own?