TABLE OF CASES Ableman v. Booth, 21 Howard, 506 Adair v. U. S., 208 U. S. 161. Calder v. Bull, 3 Dallas, 386 Charles River v. Warren Bridge, 11 Peters, 420 Chicago &c. Railway Co. v. Minnesota, 134 U. S. 418 Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dallas, 419 PAGE 165 225 126 226, 235 222, 238 144 226 100 145 192 133 Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 4 Wheaton, 518 Knickerbocker Ice Co. v. Stewart, 253 U. S. 149 99, 204 179 134 202 183 235 182 stitutional Law, II, p. 2361 Merryman, Ex Parte, Fed. Cas. No. 9487; Thayer, Cases on Con 174 217 189 202 Osborne v. President, etc., of the Bank of the U. S., 9 Wheaton, 738 139 Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Co., 157 U. S. 429; second Trevett v. Wheeden, Account by James M. Varnum 34 U. S. v. Peters, 5 Cranch, 115. 136 U. S. v. Yale Todd, 13 Howard, 52 . 99 Vanhorne's Lessee v. Dorrance, 2 Dallas, 304 99 Williams v. Mississippi, 170 U. S. 214 . . 201 I, p. 34 Winthrop v. Lechemere, Thayer, Cases on Constitutional Law, Yarborough, Ex Parte, 110 U. S. 651 19 200 INTRODUCTION The Legislature of the State of California, in conformity with the action taken by approximately half of the other state legislatures of the United States of America, has adopted an act providing that "there shall be given regular courses of instruction in the Constitution of the United States" in all schools. These acts have given rise to two questions. First: Why should a state legislature require that the Constitution of the United States be taught in the schools? Second: What should a course of instruction in the Constitution of the United States designed to meet this legislative requirement embrace? As to the first question, the answer is apparent. During the past few years, the government of the United States of America has been subjected to severe criticism from various quarters. This criticism has generally resulted in an attack either direct or indirect upon the Constitution. At the outset, such criticism was considered of little importance and did not receive much attention in view of the fact that it came in the main from those seeking notoriety or from those advocating a change, irrespective of the merit of such change, in the hope that if a change took place, they might in some way profit by it. Recently, however, criticism of the Constitution has become popular and has been indulged in by those of high standing in the country because of their intellectual attainments. In some instances, the critics include among their number University professors and others in similar positions from whom the layman is entitled to receive accurate and authentic information. Comments coming from such sources demand consideration and the result has been that many of the leading minds in our communities have undertaken a study of the problem to determine the source and basis of the attacks upon the Constitution. A study of this question has led to the conclusion that there are two sources from which the various attacks upon the Constitution of the United States of America have been launched. There is the small minority who are familiar with the history of the Constitution, its aims and ideals, who have attacked it at various times, and who now attack it in the belief that they will thus further their own political aim or that some Utopian scheme of government may be adopted which will usher in the millennium. There are the other critics, by far the great majority, who have attacked the Constitution honestly but ignorantly. They believe that they have some panacea to offer for the ills of government, but they are not familiar with history and the experiments in government which have been made and which have failed; neither are they conversant with the conditions leading up to the framing and adoption of the Constitution, or of the way in which the government of the United States of America has functioned and developed since the adoption of the Constitution. As to the first class which, fortunately, is a noisy but pitiful minority, their effectiveness is in direct proportion to the amount of attention which the public sees fit to give them. The second class is in an entirely different situation. It has been found that even among our University graduates there are comparatively few who are really familiar with the events which resulted in the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, with the machinery of government which this document created, with the difficulties encountered by our forefathers, and with the ideals they hoped could be attained. In an endeavor to enlighten this second group so that criticism of the Constitution of the United States of America should be based on knowledge, be constructive, and be of value rather than based on ignorance and misinformation furnished by those desiring the overthrow of our government, the state legislatures have required that instruction in the Constitution of the United States be given in the schools. Upon the second question concerning what a course of instruction in the Constitution of the United States should embrace, there has been considerable diversity of opinion among those charged with the task of determining the content of such a course. Some few instructors have taken the position that the legislature by undertaking to prescribe a course in the school curriculum was infringing upon the freedom heretofore enjoyed by educational institutions of determining the subjects of instruction to be offered. The great majority of educators, however, have fallen in with the spirit of the legislation, and have made an honest endeavor to carry out the legislative intent. Among those who have endeavored to cooperate with the legislature, however, there has been considerable diversity of opinion as to exactly what was the "legislative intent." In endeavoring to arrive at the legislative intent, it is necessary to consider the attacks that have been made upon the Constitution, and the merit, if any, in the changes which have been suggested. It was undoubtedly to counteract these attacks that the various legislatures acted. This, in turn, involves a consideration of the circumstances which led to the formation of the Articles of Confederation and later the Constitution of the United States of America, together with an understanding of the purposes and ideals of the framers of the Constitution, and a consideration of whether these purposes and ideals have been attained. The attack now being launched with greatest vigor is |