The John Locke Foundation, North Carolina History Project, Americans for Prosperity--Lee County, Moore TEA Citizens

The John Locke Foundation, North Carolina History Project, Americans for Prosperity--Lee County, Moore TEA Citizens Cordially invite you to

A Citizen's Constitutional Workshop -- What the Founders and the State Ratification Conventions Can Teach Us Today


with Dr. Troy Kickler & Dr. Michael Sanera, Saturday, September 10, 2011, 9:30am-3pm Grace Christian School: 2601 Jefferson Davis Highway, Sanford, NC 27332

Price: $8.00 - Purchase tickets online. Price includes lunch.  Pre-registration is required, purchase tickets at the bottom of this page or by calling 1-866-JLF-INFO.Dr. Kickler, Founding Director of the NC History Project & Adjunct Professor of United States History, NC State University.



-Dr. Sanera, Director of Research & Local Government Studies & Adjunct Professor in Political Science, NC State U

The past 100 years of Progressive ideology have almost destroyed the US Constitution. This generation must restore the Constitution's original intent of limited, federal government based on the rule of law.

This workshop provides today's Patriots with the intellectual tools to restore original intent and repair the damage done. It explains what the framers meant by phrases such as the "general welfare," "necessary and proper" and other so-called "elastic" clauses. In addition we explore the North Carolina ratification debates and reveal how the Tar Heel State ensured that the Bill of Rights was added. By examining the important role of the states in the nation's beginning and providing constitutional commentary based on the founders' words, this workshop is a must for Americans interested in preserving the United States and a federal form of government.

What the experts are saying about "Citizens' Constitutional Workshop"

"The John Locke Foundation's workshop on the Constitution will provide a solid foundation for anyone interested in understanding the Founders' experiment in republican government. By taking a federal perspective upon the original understanding, students will learn how the Revolution was fulfilled by the Constitution -- and gain insight into the divergence between the world of James Madison, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson and the USA of today."  *Kevin Gutzman, History Professor, Western Connecticut State University.  Author of Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution and Who Killed the Constitution?: The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush.

"While we have paid much attention over the years to the Constitution's drafting, we have paid relatively little attention to the intricate process by which it came to be ratified, and the role that the ratification debates played in the shaping of the Constitution's final form. Thanks to Pauline Maier's splendid recent book on the subject, however, attention is finally being paid to these fascinating, and still very germane, topics. This workshop will be an expression of that renewed interest, which is not only an interest in the Constitution itself but also in the true sources of its legitimacy." *Wilfred M. McClay, SunTrust Chair of Excellence in Humanities, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  Author of The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America

"In this time of renewed interest in the Constitution, it is meet that we look back not just on the text, but on the agreement itself. That agreement was hammered out in the state conventions, in crowded rooms full of arguments and clever attempts to turn portions of the agreement to the advantage of one group or another. "A Citizens' Constitutional Workshop" could not be more important, or more timely. That's why NC citizens should attend these workshops. They will remind us that the power of the Constitution is not what it says, but what it did, stitching together a solid national fabric from a patchwork quilt of diverse and opposing interests. We became a nation not when the Constitution was written, but rather when it was ratified."  *Michael C. Munger, Director: Philosophy, Politics and Economics- Duke University

"A constitution is meaningless if its original intent is not preserved. "Citizens' Constitutional Workshop" has embarked on a project to retrieve the original intent of the Constitution through the most reliable, yet overlooked, means at our disposal--the states. The innovative method of this project combined with its ambition to retrieve our Constitution, and with it the true meaning of limited government, makes it the most important project of its kind. Troy Kickler and Michael Sanera are following in the Founders' footsteps by bringing this discussion to a public forum which is certainly the best place to start."  *Kyle Scott, Ph.D., Department of Political Science and Honors College, University of Houston.  Author of The Price of Politics:  Lessons from Kelo v. City of New London and Dismantling American Common Law: Liberty and Justice in our Transformed Courts.

"The Key to the Constitution, as James Madison said, is the State ratifying conventions, and North Carolina played a pivotal role in defining the nature and scope of federal power. The American people will gain a better understanding of the original intent of the Constitution if they can digest how members of the State ratifying conventions argued for and against the document."  *Brion McClanahan, Ph.D., History Instructor, Chattahoochee Valley Community College.  Author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers.