Civics 105

About the Book

This volume contains all of the official documents that have formed America's original government over the years, including how it has expanded the laws-of-the nation. This volume has been broken down into three sections for reference purposes. These include those documents approved before the U.S. Constitution, those documents that were approved after it was adopted, and a few recent significant documents that were approved in later years by the U.S. Congress. The documents approved before the U.S. Constitution was adopted included the Mayflower Compact, the Fundamental Order of Connecticut, the first state that had an approved State Constitution, the Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress, the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, and the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Then came the nation's Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of Massachusetts, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States, as well as the Bill of Rights. Over the years, Other Amendments to the Constitution of the United States followed, including America's Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. All of these documents are included in this volume, as well as a chapter on the future of America's democratic form of government.

About the Author

Roger L. Kemp has worked in city government for a quarter century, serving nearly two decades of this time as a city manager. He has served in cities in California, New Jersey and Connecticut. He holds a Ph.D. degree in public administration from Golden Gate University, and is a graduate of the Program for Senior Executive in State and Local Government at Harvard University.