tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post6077097743072068675..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Sidestepping the Difficult IssuesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-54997353311552749052009-09-08T10:32:37.897-05:002009-09-08T10:32:37.897-05:00Unite or Die discusses the Bill of Rights on the l...<i>Unite or Die</i> discusses the Bill of Rights on the last page of the afterword. Its main story ends before the national ratification process. Perhaps the team is saving that for a sequel! There’s certainly enough material for a picture book on the amendments.<br /><br />The Constitution stipulates no religious tests for office, which in the context of the eighteenth century was a striking step away from a state religion. I read the First Amendment as barring Congress both from establishing one church and from interfering with the New England establishments. That’s an even more complex story, but then the wording of the amendment is complex.<br /><br />The suggested age range for <i>Unite or Die</i> is 8 to 12. I think kids that age would be able to understand some of the issues—they certainly study slavery in history, for instance. But they also study slavery as a Bad Thing. So discussing how the Constitution, as presented here, treated slavery would mean reconciling a Good Thing and a Bad Thing.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-9407490936260922922009-09-08T10:18:05.241-05:002009-09-08T10:18:05.241-05:00Not anymore, thanks to your sharp eyes!Not anymore, thanks to your sharp eyes!J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-54561428591290362962009-09-08T10:10:22.907-05:002009-09-08T10:10:22.907-05:00Does the book discuss the Bill of Rights, or just ...Does the book discuss the Bill of Rights, or just the text of the Constitution as it was first presented?<br /><br />If it's the latter, I'm not sure a "religious establishment" discussion would be proper in context.<br /><br />I'm also not sure what age this book is geared for, so I can't say whether or not they'd be mature enough to understand those other compromises.<br /><br />However, I'd be the first to say that teaching them how "perfect" the Constitution is and that it was a "Good Thing" objectively is not something we should be doing. It will only influence them later when they <i>are</i> old enough to understand the more complicated parts of history.Robert S. Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06208771657848284055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-82878110700176418372009-09-08T08:44:53.488-05:002009-09-08T08:44:53.488-05:00Fourth paragraph first line is missing the word &#...Fourth paragraph first line is missing the word 'on' or 'about'.G. Lovelynoreply@blogger.com