Never in history have 1,322 words held out such extraordinary determination to be free as those found in the
Declaration of Independence
. In 1787, "We the people" were the three words that not only engendered a new and cohesive nation; they went on to change the face of the world as well. In 1791, the first ten Amendments to the
Constitution of the United States of America
, known to us as the
Bill of Rights
introduced the world to the concept of those singular rights that ought to belong to every free individual.
In one compact volume, the full texts of both the
and the
with all ratified twenty-seven Amendments to the Constitution are side by side—along with another of America's seminal documents, Thomas Jefferson's
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
, an additional world-changing statement that codified for the first time that one cannot be required by law to support or prefer any belief or be punished for those one does profess—and the basis for what we have come to know as the "wall of separation" between church and state.
Who we are and what we are free to be as citizens of the United States of America is contained between these covers. Cass R. Sunstein prefaces the volume with a succinct history and interpretation of the place and meaning of both the
Declaration
Constitution
in American life. Enhanced by an index and suggestions for further reading, this volume, small in size but overwhelming in the impact of its contents, belongs in the home of every citizen of the United States.