MADASHECC : Moms' and Dads' Associated Society Helping to Educate Future Conservative Constitutionalists

Dumbing Down our Kids by Charles J. Sykes Copyright 1995

Publishers Weekly Review: Sykes argues that educators’ emphasis on egalitarianism and building self-esteem have caused an eroding of true learning in the American classroom.

 

Video: The Spirit of ’76, Our Founding: The Greatest Story Ever Told, the final edition

“The Spirit of ’76” offers the real story of the writing and ratification of the Constitution in the new including the world’s first portrayal of the most important yet untold piece of

the story: the Virginia Ratification Convention and the patriot Patrick Henry, who made famous the phrase, “Give me liberty, or give me death.” But you won’t just hear the historic debates that shaped our country – you will see it as well.

“The Spirit of ’76” transports you back in time to Independence Hall and see it with Emmy-award winning actor Jay Thomas and an ensemble cast of some of radio’s best-known voices. “I was always extremely proud of what I achieved with ‘The Road to Independence’ and “Fame Of The Fathers,’” Church noted. “But it was time to take things to the next level with ‘The Spirit of ’76, this is historic cinema!.”

 

The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, Copyright 2005

“The Heritage Guide to the Constitution brings together more than one hundred of the nation’s best legal experts to provide the first ever line-by-line examination of the complete Constitution and its contemporary meaning.” “Stressing the original intent of the Framers as the authoritative standard of constitutional interpretation, and never straying from the Constitution and the definitive writings of the Framers – especially the invaluable notes taken at the Constitutional Convention by James Madison, the widely recognized analysis in The Federalist Papers, and Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story’s 1833 classic Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States – this volume is unique, comprehensive, and authoritative.”–BOOK JACKET

 

 

The American Revolution, One Nation’s Rise to Independence, Copyright 2005

After having the chance to go back and watch this series again, I must put a disclaimer on it.  The series tends to be very revisionist and makes the beginnings/reasons of the Revolution seem very trite and self-serving. There are some statements in the collection that I have issue with, mainly the one about how the Americans really weren’t taxed all that much and that the revolutionists (Patriots) were just pesky tyrants wanting to rule over the Americas themselves.  The series definitely does not leave you with a patriotic feeling for those who wanted their independence and I highly suggest you go and read and watch much more about the Revolution before you allow this biased account to influence you completely.  May I suggest “The Spirit of ’76″ above among others?

 

The American Revolution: One Nation’s Rise To Independence is a collection of ten documentaries that chronicle the war of independence beginning with the first rumblings that could be heard as early as the French and Indian War and concludes with the signing of the Treaty of Paris which secures American independence.

Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings, Thomas Paine

“Without…Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain.”

-John Adams

Amazon.com

 

1776 

Esteemed historian David McCullough covers the military side of the momentous year of 1776 with characteristic insight and a gripping narrative, adding new scholarship and a fresh perspective to the beginning of the American Revolution. It was a turbulent and confusing time. As British and American politicians struggled to reach a compromise, events on the ground escalated until war was inevitable. McCullough writes vividly about the dismal conditions that troops on both sides had to endure, including an unusually harsh winter, and the role that luck and the whims of the weather played in helping the colonial forces hold off the world’s greatest army. He also effectively explores the importance of motivation and troop morale–a tie was as good as a win to the Americans, while anything short of overwhelming victory was disheartening to the British, who expected a swift end to the war. The redcoat retreat from Boston, for example, was particularly humiliating for the British, while the minor American victory at Trenton was magnified despite its limited strategic importance.

Some of the strongest passages in 1776 are the revealing and well-rounded portraits of the Georges on both sides of the Atlantic. King George III, so often portrayed as a bumbling, arrogant fool, is given a more thoughtful treatment by McCullough, who shows that the king considered the colonists to be petulant subjects without legitimate grievances–an attitude that led him to underestimate the will and capabilities of the Americans. At times he seems shocked that war was even necessary. The great Washington lives up to his considerable reputation in these pages, and McCullough relies on private correspondence to balance the man and the myth, revealing how deeply concerned Washington was about the Americans’ chances for victory, despite his public optimism. Perhaps more than any other man, he realized how fortunate they were to merely survive the year, and he willingly lays the responsibility for their good fortune in the hands of God rather than his own. Enthralling and superbly written, 1776 is the work of a master historian. –Shawn Carkonen

 

A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, by Joseph Plum Martin

In this first-hand account of the Revolutionary War, Joseph Plumb Martin narrates his true adventures as an eighteen-year-old private in the Continental Army-and gives a rare glimpse of the earthy beginnings of our nation’s history.

Nothing but good reviews from Amazon.com.  This is the only full first-hand account of the Revolutionary War by a regular soldier.  Priceless.

 

 

 

Crimes Against Liberty, by David Limbaugh

As Americans, liberty is an inalienable right that is granted to us by God, protected by the Constitution, and upheld by our government. Yet, Barack Obama doesn’t seem to share that view. To him, liberty is a threat to the government’s power and something to be squashed by any means possible, as bestselling author David Limbaugh shows to devastating effect in his new book, Crimes Against Liberty.

Limbaugh issues a damning indictment of President Barack Obama for encroaching upon and stripping us of our individual and sovereign rights. Laying out his case like he would a criminal complaint, Limbaugh presents the evidence—count-by-count—against Obama. From exploiting the financial crisis for political gain, to restricting our personal freedoms through invasive healthcare and “green” policies, to endangering America with his feckless diplomacy and reckless dismantlement of our national security systems, Limbaugh proves—beyond a reasonable doubt—that Obama is guilty of crimes against liberty. Comprehensive and compelling, this is Limbaugh’s most powerful book yet.

©2010 David Limbaugh (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A lexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow

Ron Chernow, whom the New York Times called “as elegant an architect of monumental histories as we’ve seen in decades”, now brings to startling life the man who was arguably the most important figure in American history, who never attained the presidency, but who had a far more lasting impact than many who did.

With masterful storytelling skills, Chernow presents the whole sweep of Hamilton’s turbulent life: his exotic, brutal upbringing; his brilliant military, legal, and financial exploits; his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and Monroe; his illicit romances; and his famous death in a duel with Aaron Burr in July 1804.

Alexander Hamilton was one of the seminal figures in our history. His richly dramatic saga, rendered in Chernow’s vivid prose, is nothing less than a riveting account of America’s founding, from the Revolutionary War to the rise of the first federal government.

©2004 Ron Chernow; (P)2004 Penguin Audio

 

 

John Adams (HBO Miniseries) (2008)

Based on David McCullough’s bestselling biography, the HBO miniseries John Adams is the furthest thing from a starry-eyed look at America’s founding fathers and the brutal path to independence. Adams (Paul Giamatti), second president of the United States, is portrayed as a skilled orator and principled attorney whose preference for justice over anti-English passions earns enemies. But he also gains the esteem of the first national government of the Unite

d States, i.e., the Continental Congress, which seeks non-firebrands capable of making a reasoned if powerful case for America’s break from England’s monarchy. The first thing one notices about John Adams‘ dramatizations of congress’ proceedings, and the fervent pro-independence violence in the streets of Boston and elsewhere, is that America’s roots don’t look pretty or idealized here. Some horrendous things happen in the name of protest, driving Adams to push the cause of independence in a legitimate effort to get on with a revolutionary war under the command of George Washington. But the process isn’t easy: not every one of the 13 colonies-turned-states is ready to incur the wrath of England, and behind-the-scenes negotiations prove as much a part of 18th century congressional sessions as they do today.

Besides this peek into a less-romanticized version of the past, John Adams is also a story of the man himself. Adams’ frustration at being forgotten or overlooked at critical junctures of America’s early development–sent abroad for years instead of helping to draft the U.S. constitution–is detailed. So is his dismay that the truth of what actually transpired leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence has been slowly forgotten and replaced by a rosier myth. But above all, John Adams is the story of two key ties: Adams’ 54-year marriage to Abigail Adams (Laura Linney), every bit her husband’s intellectual equal and anchor, and his difficult, almost symbiotic relationship with Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) over decades. Giamatti, of course, has to carry much of the drama, and if he doesn’t always seem quite believable in the series’ first half, he becomes increasingly excellent at the point where an aging Adams becomes bitter over his place in history. Linney is marvelous, as is Dillane, Sarah Polley as daughter Nabby, Danny Huston as cousin Samuel Adams, and above all Tom Wilkinson as a complex but indispensable Ben Franklin. –Tom Keogh

 

Jefferson and His Time (Six Volume Set, Volume I “The Virginian” pictured above)

Noted by the those who work at Monticello as one of the most trusted biography of Thomas Jefferson and used regularly by them as a reference.