"No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders."
~Samuel Adams

The Making of America; the Substance and Meaning of the Constitution
W. Cleon Skousen

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Forty years of study, 14 years in the making; a detailed review of the 287 provisions of the U.S. Constitution and its amendments. Includes the full texts of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independ-ence, bibleography, Constitutional and subject indices.
NCCS also offers live and recorded seminars based on this text.

The 5000 Year Leap Principles of Freedom 101
W. Cleon Skousen

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Discover the 28 Principles of Freedom our Founding Fathers said must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desire peace, prosperity, and freedom. Learn how adherence to these beliefs during the past 200 years has brought about more progress than was made in the previous 5,000 years.


There is also a curriculum, in a 6-DVD set, available for individual or group study based on this book. Contact WITP if you're interested in attending a class.

The Federalist Papers
Alexander Hamilton/James Madison/John Jay

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The authors and supporters of the Constitution of 1787 foresaw that a clear-cut vote against it in the state ratifying conventions would destroy the United States' most important experiment in popular government. A particular point of concern was the growing state of New York, whose governor, George Clinton, was a formidable opponent of the proposed charter.
Alexander Hamilton, in an energetic effort to win over his home state, began a series of essays explaining and defending the Constitution. These were published in New York City newspapers under the pseudonym Publius. Hamilton was aided by contributions from two advocates of a new and energetic national government, James Madison and John Jay. The efforts of these three men resulted in The Federalist Papers - an authoritative analysis of the young nation's Constitution and an enduring classic of political philosophy.

The Heritage Guide to the Constitution

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Under the leadership of former Attorney General Edwin Meese, and in conjunction with the nation's preeminent think tank-The Heritage Foundation-this book brings together more than one hundred of the nation's best legal experts to provide the first ever line-by-line examination of the complete Constitution and its contemporary meaning.
Stressing the original intent of the Framers as the authoritative standard of constitutional interpretation, and never straying from the Constitution and the definitive writings of the Framers - especially the invaluable notes taken at the Constitutional Convention by James Madison, the widely recognized analysis in The Federalist Papers, and Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story's 1833 classic Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States - this volume is unique, comprehensive, and authoritative.

Common Sense, Rights of Man, and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine

Introduction by Sidney Hook
Foreword by Jack Fruchtman Jr.

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At the time only a modest pamphlet, Thomas Paine's Common Sense shocked and spurred the foundling American colonies of 1776 to action. It demanded freedom from Britain, when even the most fervent patriots were only advocating tax reform. Paine's daring prose paved the way for the ependence and, consequently, the Revolutionary War. For "without the pen of Paine", as John Adams said, "the sword of
Washington would have been wielded in vain." Later, his impassioned defense of the French Revolution, Rights of Man, caused a worldwide sensation. Napoleon claimed to have slept with a copy under his pillow, recommending that "a statue of gold should be erected to [Paine] in every city in the universe.
These two complete works, along with selections from his other major essays -- "The Crisis", the "The Age of Reason", and "Agrarian Justice" --are all presented together here in one volume, showcasing one of history's most eloquent proponents of democracy.

Liberty and Tyranny

Mark R. Levin

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In the face of the modern liberal assault on Constitution-based values, an attack that has steadily snowballed since President Roosevelt's New Deal of the 1930s and resulted in a federal government that is a massive, unaccountable conglomerate, the time for re-enforcing the intellectual and practical case for conservatism is now. Conservative beliefs in individual freedoms do in the end stand for liberty for all Americans, while liberal dictates lead to the breakdown of civilized society -- in short, tyranny.  Looking back to look to the future, Levin writes "conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are our founding principles." And in a series of powerful essays, Levin lays out how conservatives can counter the liberal corrosion that has filtered into every timely issue affecting our daily lives, from the economy to health care, global warming, immigration, and more - and illustrates how change, as seen through the conservative lens, is always prudent, and always an enhancement to individual freedom.

Original Intent
David Barton

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In their own words, the Supreme Court has become "a national theology board," a"a super board of education," and amateur psychologists on a "psycho-journey." The result has been a virtual rewriting of the liberties enumerated in the Constitution.
A direct victim of this judicial micro-management has been the religious aspect of the First Amendment. For example, the Court now interprets that Amendment under:
- a "Lemon Test"absurdly requiring religious expression to be secular.,
- an " Endorsement Test" pursuing an impossibleneutrality between religion and secularism
- and a "Psychological Coercion Test" allowing a single dissenter to silence an entire community's religious expression.
Additional casualties of judicial activism have included protections for State's rights, local controls, separation of powers, legislative supremacy, and numerous other constitutional provisions. Why did earlier Courts protect those powers for generations, and what has caused their erosion by contemporary Courts?
Original Intent answers these questions. By relying on thousands of primary sources, Original Intent documents (in the Founding Fathers' own words) not only the plan for limited government originally set forth in the Constitution and Bill of Rights but how that vision can once again become reality.

Wives of the Signers: The Women Behind the Declaration of Independence
Foreword by David Barton 

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Excerpted from The Pioneer Mothers of America by Harry Clinton Green and Mary Wolcott Green, originally published in 1912. Great American men have always understand the importance of women. John Adams described them as "the most infallible barometer... of morality and virtue in a nation." And Daniel Webster said the "promulgation of sound morals" was a woman's contribution to "the preservation of a free government."
Wives of the Signers describes those women who, alongside their husbands, experienced the trials and triumphs of the struggle for independence and the challenge of building a new nation.  Who were they?
 - Abigail Smith Adams, wife of one president, mother of another, and perhaps the most influential woman of her day.
 - Annis Boudinot Stockton, wife of Richard Stockton, whose home was looted and burned during the savageries of war.
 - Deborah Scudder Hart, wife of John Hart, who suffered for months as her patriotic husband was hounded and hunted as a criminal;
 ....and many more.
Wives of the Signers highlights these great American women. Though they did not confront the hail of bullets or cannon, though they did not participate in conventions or congresses, they were at the heart of every soul-stirring historic event. Wives of the Signers is a book about the heart of America.