Posted by
Mr. H on Thursday, September 13, 2007 3:01:39 PM
Although I disagree with the manner in which it was done, Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) actually did American students a tremendous favor by requiring schools to teach something about the U.S. Constitution on September 17 of each year.
On September 17, 1787, some of the finest minds in the history of the Western Hemisphere put their signatures on the text of the Constitution, setting for all time the system of government by which the United States would be ruled. A few delegates refused to sign it because it did not contain a Bill of Rights, but the Federalists soon realized that one would be necessary to get it ratified in a majority of the states.
What today is known as the Bill of Rights was actually 12 amendments written by James Madison, of which 11 would eventually be ratified by the states (while everybody remembers 1-10, the 27th Amendment is actually one of Madison's original 12). The most important of these is often seen as the 1st Amendment, guaranteeing the rights of citizens to speak, worship, publish, assemble, and petition freely.
Encourage your children to learn more about the Bill of Rights and the freedoms they guarantee to Americans. Teach them that these rights are not given to them by the government, but are guaranteed as rights that the government can not take away. As they get older, teach them that if government tries to limit these rights, that it is their duty as citizens to use every legal means to fight back. They probably won't hear that in their public school classroom.