Basic American government

by Clarence B. Carson

Basic American Government by Clarence B. Carson is a constitutionally oriented book which includes a valuable and lengthy description of the nature our government, followed by a history of its founding principles, tracing them from the ancient Hebrews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Medieval and reformation background, and the British sources. From there it goes to description of the making of our national and state constitutions, the 19th century development, and 20th century departures.

The tone of the book is set in these opening It would be a considerable fraud to do a book on American government which talked as if the Constitution were still being substantially observed, that pretended that when Presidents took the oath of office they intended to observe the bounds set by Constitution, that Congressmen recited their pledges with the same intent, and that federal judges were still construing the Constitution as it was written. In sum, any book on American government ought to make clear how remote from the Constitution the government has become.

From the Sonlight Curriculum Ltd. We looked at dozens of texts before settling with delight on this volume. It provides exactly the kind of basic outline we need for a high school civics class. Mr. Carson offers an astonishingly broad perspective on the entire range of cultural and historical sources that lay behind America’s constitutional government as it was being born. He also provides a thorough view of the historical events that have permitted our national government to become the Leviathan it is today. For a work that covers so much difficult and complex material, this book is astonishingly thorough, well-organized, and easy to read.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Read For School, School, High School, Government

591 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[rachel ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

not a fan.
i didn’t understand like 90% of it because it was gibberish to me (i don’t think i’ll ever be in government) but the remaining portion i did understand i violently disagreed with 😭

“blacks were told they were used and abused by whites. women were told they were maltreated and otherwise discriminated against by men… there is something irresistibly attractive to many people about others being penalized and themselves presumably benefited by government programs. thus… the constitution has been conquered.” ch 17 p 403

if i could talk to this man, i would ask him first for clarification and rephrasing his statement to be absolutely sure i understand what he means. i get his point about government programs purely being for expanding control over the people, i get it. i disagree, but i get it. but the example he carves out to fit his point? that’s where things get crazy.

to the best of my understanding, he’s implying that prejudice and discrimination were created only for the sake of more government control. dude. poc’s and women were not “told”, they lived it. slavery EXISTED. specifically, this section was focusing on FDR and the mid 1930’s. segregation was still a thing! and women won the right to vote in 1920. sir, what do you mean, “women were told they were maltreated and otherwise discriminated against by men”?

agh. 😔

[Kyrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting because Carson lays out how government has become so unweildy and intrusive. He shows the roots of the problem. It was a bit like listening to my dad talk.
It was sometimes hard to read because the man uses long sentences and hammers home his points. It was not good to read right after a meal or before I went to bed, as I'd fall asleep two pages into a chapter.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I give this book five more stars? And five more after that? And again? I absolutely LOVE this book. I know several people who have referred to it as 'dull' but when it comes to insight, a picture of our history, good sense and advice, I have yet to discover this book's equal.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say, this is heavy stuff for a highschool curriculum, but Sonlight chose it, I read it. And, although I can't say I agreed with every conclusion Carson came to, I did agree with a lot of what he said. And, I LOVED all the pages and pages and chapters and chapters on America's Constitution.

[Rowena Ivanhoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great American government textbook. This book is heavy on history and the ideas that influenced the design of the Constitution. It also explains how we got from the limited, constitutional government of the founding fathers to the dismal state of American politics and government today. This should be required reading for every student in America.

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Educational, realistic history of our government, or more specifically, the history of our Constitution and how it has been so grossly violated by Presidents and Supreme Court Justices along the way.

[mairiachi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, engaging, and pretty clear. It's not hard to understand, and makes government much clearer. It's fairly unbiased, at least as far as I can tell - and they have very interesting points to make about a government out of control. The book motivated me to try harder to change things with our system and to support the things with our system that I like and want to improve. It helped me see things clearer, the way our government works vs other governments, the stuff we can do on our part, etc. and it's very simple and straightforward with a good perspective on things. I have very different opinions and views on things, after reading it! I'm not sure if the writer is Democratic or Republican, but who cares, he has really good points on all aspects of the American government and I'm so glad our class went through this one.

I can't stress enough how much I appreciate it, but for just an average person with other books they're excited to read, this isn't a page-turner for sure and if I hadn't had to do it for school, I wouldn't have even gotten through the first chapter. On the other hand, he has good points, some interesting stories, and the last 10 ish chapters are really good. So maybe consider reading a chapter a day and finishing it that way, it's worth it, in my opinion.

[Evie · Rating 3 out of 5]

He does a very thorough job of talking about the forming of the Constitution and teaching what it actually says and what (he believes) the founding fathers intended. This is the strength of the book. He feels very strongly about the direction the country has taken and how the Constitution has been broken. He covers certain points over and over. This is not an unbiased perspective. It is also written in a very obtuse way, often unnecessarily difficult to read, at other times using interesting and relevant examples.

[JR Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book on U.S. Government.

[Alex]

I'm not going to rate this because it's a school book, but I did learn a lot.

[Liam DeVries · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh

[London · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shelf: Accepted, until further notice.