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“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.” – Samuel Adams
Many Americans know the preamble to the United States Constitution and the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. They also may be able to recite at least some of the enumerated Bill of Rights. But few know these documents are considered our Founding Documents, documents that carry equal importance in the creation and execution of our government. Even fewer understand the principles, history and philosophy surrounding the creation of these remarkable documents. To be an American is to understand and to have a reasonable commitment to the ideas in America's founding documents.
It is the mission of Basics Project to make sure that every American is afforded the opportunity of understanding these remarkable documents, the covenant between citizen and the uniquely American form of government. We believe that through a greater understanding of the principles on which our government was built our citizenry will better understand that e pluribus unum, the idea that we are out of many, one. Through our representative form of government and through the rule of law created by our Framers, common ground can be found and solutions can be crafted for each critical issue that may arise before the people of the United States. We believe that by understanding these invaluable tools bequeathed to us for our stewardship, we will successfully maintain and bequeath them, yet again, to future generations so the great American experiment can continue.
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