|
|
Article: The Organic and Moral Elements in the American Consitution - The Constitution is a product of colonial experience under British common law and other historic traditions.(Critical Essay)
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- February 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Historian Paul Johnson is the author of 28 books, including the much- acclaimed Modern Times: The World from the 1920s to the 1990s.
In the endless human adventure of self-government, the United States has been one of the great stories of success. The explanation for this must lie primarily in its constitution and, still more, in its constitutionalism--that is, its capacity to modify its mode of government by due process rather than by violence. Nowadays the study of constitutions is regarded as dull work; "constitutional history" is completely out of fashion. Yet constitutions are important. No other document tells us more about a country, or why its public ...