Examines the nature & effects of the 27 amendments; reflections on the Bill of Rights & the Emancipation Proclamation; plus extensive appendixes of critical documents.

The Intentions of the Federal Convention of 1787 --The Federal Convention and a Bill of Rights -- Predecessors to the American Bill of Rights -- The Purposes and Effects of the Bill of Rights of 1791 -- Amendment I -- Amendments II, III, and IV -- Amendments V, VI, VII, and VIII -- Amendments IX, X, XI, and XII -- Education in the New Republic -- The Confederate Constitution of 1861 -- The Emancipation Proclamation of 1862-1863 -- Amendments XIII, XIV, and XV -- Amendments XVI, XVII, and XIX -- Amendments XVIII and XXI -- Amendments XX, XXII, XXIII, and XXV -- Amendments XXIII, XXIV, XXVI, and XXVII -- The Constitution in the Twenty-first Century -- Magna Carta (1215) -- Thomas More's Petition to Henry VIII on Parliamentary Freedom of Speech (1521) -- The Petition of Right (1628) -- The English Bill of Rights (1689) -- Declarations by American Congresses (1765-1776) -- Declarations of Rights and Grievances by the Stamp Act Congress (1765) -- Declaration and Resolves by the First Continental Congress (1774) -- The Declaration of Independence (1776) -- Declarations of Rights (1776-1780) -- Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) -- Massachusetts Declaration of Rights (1780) -- Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty (1785) -- The Principal Bill of Rights Discussions in James Madison's Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention (1787) -- Monday, August 20, 1787 -- Wednesday, September 12, 1787 -- Saturday, September 15, 1787 -- Amendment Proposals by the Last States to Ratify the Constitution before Its Initial Implementation (1788). The Intentions of the Federal Convention of 1787 -- The Federal Convention and a Bill of Rights -- Predecessors to the American Bill of Rights -- The Purposes and Effects of the Bill of Rights of 1791 -- Amendment I -- Amendments II, III, and IV -- Amendments V, VI, VII, and VIII -- Amendments IX, X, XI, and XII -- Education in the New Republic -- The Confederate Constitution of 1861 -- The Emancipation Proclamation of 1862-1863 -- Amendments XIII, XIV, and XV -- Amendments XVI, XVII, and XIX -- Amendments XVIII and XXI -- Amendments XX, XXII, XXIII, and XXV -- Amendments XXIII, XXIV, XXVI, and XXVII -- The Constitution in the Twenty-first Century -- Magna Carta (1215) -- Thomas More's Petition to Henry VIII on Parliamentary Freedom of Speech (1521) -- The Petition of Right (1628) -- The English Bill of Rights (1689) -- Declarations by American Congresses (1765-1776) -- Declarations of Rights and Grievances by the Stamp Act Congress (1765) -- Declaration and Resolves by the First Continental Congress (1774) -- The Declaration of Independence (1776) -- Declarations of Rights (1776-1780) -- Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) -- Massachusetts Declaration of Rights (1780) -- Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty (1785) -- The Principal Bill of Rights Discussions in James Madison's Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention (1787) -- Monday, August 20, 1787 -- Wednesday, September 12, 1787 -- Saturday, September 15, 1787 -- Amendment Proposals by the Last States to Ratify the Constitution before Its Initial Implementation (1788).