Basic American Government

by Clarence B. Carson

Basic American Government gives an account of the general government as established by the Constitution, of the state governments which preceded or came after it and their constitutions. More, it details the Ancient and modern foundations, scriptural and secular, on which these constitutions and governments rested. The Founders of the United States built on a great foundation, and the story of that is told in these pages. The story is told, too, how the Constitution of 1787 became venerated and accepted as the Higher Law in the 19th century. The account ends with the sobering description of the massive departures from the Constitution in the 10th century, on the way to constructing a Leviathon, which government is now out of control.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Read For 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.

[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.