There a couple foundational documents that many Americans cite as absolute truisms. One is the Bible, Old and New Testament. The other is the Constitution of the United States. Yet when you get to quizzing folks, the actual count of who has read either one of these documents in totality is not staggeringly impressive.
According to one survey, Americans Love the Bible but Don’t Read It Much , showed only 20 percent read the Bible regularly.
“Results of a nationwide survey released Thursday by the Center for the Constitution at James Madison’s Montpelier show 86 percent of respondents recognize the importance of the document, the 223-year-old framework for American government. Thirty-one percent say they think they understand the Constitution “a lot” and 48 percent say they understand “some” of it. But only 28 percent say they’ve read all of the document, and 14 percent say they’ve read most of it, according to a report by Sean O’Brien, executive director at the Orange, Va., center.”
I can understand the Bible to some extent. It is long, dense and arcane. I once had very “religious” person tell me that he did not need to read the Bible. If there was something in there he needed to know his preacher would tell him. Okay.
The United States Constitution is not long, dense or arcane. It is not any more a perfect document than is the Bible. If nothing else counting people of color as three fifths of a person for the purpose of congressional representation would toss the Constitution from that category.
Below I have links to a written version of the Constitution. I also have a link to free download of an audio book of the same and the amendments to the constitution. Perhaps the best way to go through it would be listen as you read. The total running time for the Constitution is less than 30 minutes. Add the amendments in there and total is less than one hour.
The United States Constitution with Amendments
The United States Constitution – Audio book (free)
Amendments to The United States Constitution – Audio book (free)
If you really want to get into, and understand what the issues were as they were understood at time The Federalist Papers is a great source. It is a series of newspaper editorials written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. It is a much bigger commitment of time, but if you like history damn well worth it. The audio book runs 21 hours, but you can listen as drive, exercise, etc.
The Federalist Papers – Kindle
The Federalist Papers – Audio book (free)
And as bonus here is Declaration of Independence:
Declaration of Independence – Audio book (free)
So what is your excuse now?