The United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is often praised as a landmark of freedom, a model of modern governance. Drafted in Philadelphia and ratified soon after the Revolution, it promised a new kind of government—one restrained by law and accountable to the people. But does it truly deserve this praise?

At rightsprotection.org, we do not approach the Constitution as worshippers of parchment. We approach it as citizens seeking justice. We believe that any document claiming to limit government must be held to the highest standard—not the standard of its writers, but the standard of the people it claims to protect.

This unit examines the Constitution as both a foundation of law and a mirror of power. Our goal is not merely to interpret its language, but to confront its consequences.

We begin with the full, unaltered text of the original Constitution, followed by two branches of inquiry:

• A good faith reading of the Constitution as a principled effort to create a fair and functional republic;

• A critical reflection on the Constitution’s moral failures—its sanctioning of slavery, its silence on Indigenous nations, and its architecture that favors elite control.

But the story does not end with the original text.

To supplement this core exploration, we have created a dedicated series on the Amendments to the Constitution—those later additions that have sought to correct, clarify, or redefine the limits of governmental power. From the celebrated Bill of Rights to later reforms and reversals, these amendments reveal a nation in constant tension between its ideals and its institutions.

By incorporating this amendment series into our constitutional unit, we hope to present the whole picture—not just the founding document, but the struggles, revisions, and contradictions that followed.

We do not claim to have the final word. But we do claim this right: to question, to challenge, and to demand better from any system that wields authority over human lives.

Let us begin, not with myths, but with memory. Not with reverence, but with reason.