Episode 5
E Pluribus Unum — that’s the motto of the United States. What it means in Latin is “out of many, one” and it comes from the idea that we are separate states united under one country. That was an idea codified in the US Constitution.
If you didn’t take Civics in school, you may never have read the Constitution. I haven’t, not all the way through. And it’s a short read, about 16 pages, just under 4400 words. You can get it for your Kindle for less than a buck and a nice little hardcover for under 10, that includes all the amendments. And it’s also online for flippin’ free, the whole thing. You think I could find the time.
If you poll the American public, how many of us think the Constitution was written in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson and starts out, “When in the course of human events…”?
The Constitution, the foundation of our country’s rule of law, is a big subject. For this episode, we’ll look at how the Constitution came to be and what’s in it.
References for this episode:

* Full text of the United StatesConstitution
* Lumen Learning – The Constitutional Convention
* Wikipedia – Seven Years War
* Wikipedia – French and Indian War
* Wikipedia – First Continental Congress
* Wikipedia – Second Continental Congress
* Wikipedia – British North America
* Wikipedia – Articles of Confederation
* Wikipedia – Framers of the Constitution
*  Britannica – Iroquois Confederacy
* You Tube – cartoon on the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy
* Daily Beast article – How an Iroquois Chief Helped Write the US Constitution
* Politfact article – Viral Meme US Constitution
* US Congressional resolution acknowledging the Iroquois influence
* Indian Country Media Network – Myths debunked
* Wikipedia – Delegates to the Continental Congress
* Wikipedia – Founding Fathers of the US
* Wikipedia – Independence Hall, Philadelphia
* Humboldt State – Colonial History
* Wikipedia – Shay’s Rebellion
* Wikipedia – James Madison
* Wikipedia –