Class study guide questions
The 5000 Year Leap
Tuesdays-beginning February 9
Family Vision Library
2020 Parkway, St. Peters, MO 63376
Van will be leading this study, and can be reached at blogodidact@gmail.com.CWA of Missouri will be offering this DVD study from the National Center for Constitutional Studies. It will cover the “Twenty-Eight Principles of Liberty-Ideas that Changed the World.” Discover the 28 fundamental beliefs of the Founding Fathers which they said must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desired peace, prosperity, and freedom.
Learn where the Founding Fathers got their ideas for sound government and how a return to these ideas can solve our nation’s problems today. These beliefs have made possible more progress in 200 years than was made previously in over 5,000 years, thus the title The 5,000 Year Leap.
The book will be available for purchase at class for $6.
Schedule for reading:
· Feb. 9: Receive books and introduction
· Feb. 16: Principles 1, 2; pp. 1-57
· Feb. 23: Principles 3, 4, 5; pp. 59-101
· March 2: Principles 6, 7; pp. 103-121
· March 9: Principles 8, 9, 10, 11; pp. 123-151
· March 16: Principles 12, 13, 14; pp. 153-177
· March 23: Principles 15, 16, 17; pp. 179-215
· March 30: Principles 18, 19, 20, 21; pp. 217-241
· April 6: Principles 22, 23, 24; pp. 243-265
· April 13: Principles 25, 26; pp. 267-289
· April 20: Principles 27, 28; pp. 291-311
· April 27: The American Experiment
The following is a brief overview of the principles found in The 5,000 Year Leap:
Principle 1 - The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law.
Natural law is God's law. There are certain laws which govern the entire universe, and just as Thomas Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence, there are laws which govern in the affairs of men which are "the laws of nature and of nature's God."
Principle 2 - A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.
"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Benjamin Franklin
Principle 3 - The most promising method of securing a virtuous people is to elect virtuous leaders.
"Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who ... will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man." - Samuel Adams
Principle 4 - Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion." - George Washington
Principle 5 - All things were created by God, therefore upon him all mankind are equally dependent, and to him they are equally responsible.
The American Founding Fathers considered the existence of the Creator as the most fundamental premise underlying all self-evident truth. They felt a person who boasted he or she was an atheist had just simply failed to apply his or her divine capacity for reason and observation.
Principle 6 - All mankind were created equal.
The Founders knew that in these three ways, all mankind are theoretically treated as:
- Equal before God.
- Equal before the law.
- Equal in their rights.
The Founders recognized that the people cannot delegate to their government any power except that which they have the lawful right to exercise themselves.
Principle 8 - Mankind are endowed by God with certain unalienable rights.
"Those rights, then, which God and nature have established, and are therefore called natural rights, such as are life and liberty, need not the aid of human laws to be more effectually invested in every man than they are; neither do they receive any additional strength when declared by the municipal [or state] laws to be inviolable. On the contrary, no human legislation has power to abridge or destroy them, unless the owner [of the right] shall himself commit some act that amounts to a forfeiture." - William Blackstone
Principle 9 - To protect human rights, God has revealed a code of divine law.
"The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found only in the Holy Scriptures. These precepts, when revealed, are found by comparison to be really a part of the original law of nature, as they tend in all their consequences to man's felicity." - William Blackstone
Principle 10 - The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people.
"The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legislative authority." - Alexander Hamilton
Principle 11 - The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.
"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ... but when a long train of abuses and usurpations ... evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." - Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of
Principle 12 - The
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
and to the republic for which it stands...."
Principle 13 - A Constitution should protect the people from the frailties of their rulers.
"If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.... [But lacking these] you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." - James Madison
Principle 14 - Life and liberty are secure only so long as the rights of property are secure.
John Locke reasoned that God gave the earth and everything in it to the whole human family as a gift. Therefore the land, the sea, the acorns in the forest, the deer feeding in the meadow belong to everyone "in common." However, the moment someone takes the trouble to change something from its original state of nature, that person has added his ingenuity or labor to make that change. Herein lies the secret to the origin of "property rights."
Principle 15 - The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations.
Prosperity depends upon a climate of wholesome stimulation with four basic freedoms in operation:
- The Freedom to try.
- The Freedom to buy.
- The Freedom to sell.
- The Freedom to fail.
"I call you to witness that I was the first member of the Congress who ventured to come out in public, as I did in January 1776, in my Thoughts on Government ... in favor of a government with three branches and an independent judiciary. This pamphlet, you know, was very unpopular. No man appeared in public to support it but yourself." - John Adams
Principle 17 - A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power by the different branches of government.
"It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." - James Madison
Principle 18 - The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written Constitution.
The structure of the American system is set forth in the Constitution of the
Principle 19 - Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained by the people.
The Tenth Amendment is the most widely violated provision of the bill of rights. If it had been respected and enforced
"The powers not delegated to the
Principle 20 - Efficiency and dispatch require that the government operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.
"Every man, by consenting with others to make one body politic under one government, puts himself under an obligation to every one of that society to submit to the determination of the majority, and to be concluded [bound] by it." - John Locke
Principle 21 - Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.
"The way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to everyone exactly the functions he is competent [to perform best]. - Thomas Jefferson
Principle 22 - A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.
"The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings, capable of laws, where there is no law there is no freedom. For liberty is to be free from restraint and violence of others, which cannot be where there is no law." - John Locke
Principle 23 - A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education.
"They made an early provision by law that every town consisting of so many families should be always furnished with a grammar school. They made it a crime for such a town to be destitute of a grammar schoolmaster for a few months, and subjected it to a heavy penalty. So that the education of all ranks of people was made the care and expense of the public, in a manner that I believe has been unknown to any other people, ancient or modern. The consequences of these establishments we see and feel every day [written in 1765]. A native of
Principle 24 - A free people will not survive unless they stay strong.
"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." - George Washington
Principle 25 - "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations -- entangling alliances with none." - Thomas Jefferson’s first inaugural address.
Principle 26 - The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity.
"There is certainly no country in the world where the tie of marriage is more respected than in
Principle 27 - The burden of debt is as destructive to human freedom as subjugation by conquest.
"We are bound to defray expenses [of the war] within our own time, and are unauthorized to burden posterity with them.... We shall all consider ourselves morally bound to pay them ourselves and consequently within the life [expectancy] of the majority." - Thomas Jefferson
Principle 28 - The
The Founders sensed from the very beginning that they were on a divine mission. Their great disappointment was that it didn't all come to pass in their day, but they knew that someday it would. John Adams wrote:
"I always consider the settlement of
5000 year leap
Designed for the in-depth study of
Dr. W. Cleon Skousen’s classic textbook
on the original American “success formula”
The Five Thousand Year Leap
Prepared by Earl Taylor, Jr.
National Center for Constitutional Studies
Copyright © 1994 by the National Center for Constitutional Studies
Permission to reproduce this publication (in whole or in part)
for noncommercial, educational purposes is hereby granted,
provided that appropriate credit is given to the publisher.
For additional copies of this publication, or for
other educational materials on freedom
and the Constitution, contact:
The National Center for Constitutional Studies
37777 W Juniper Rd
Malta ID 83342
(208) 645-2625
Session 1
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: Forward (pages ix-xi), Preface (pages xiii-xviii), Introduction (pages 1-6)
Questions pertain to “the 28 great ideas that have changed the world.”
1. Can you give at least three reasons why U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch indicated that he was personally excited about The Five Thousand Year Leap? (Page ix)
2. According to Senator Hatch, what six groups of people should read and study this book? (x)
3. Briefly explain why Dr. Skousen felt it was necessary to write The Five Thousand Year Leap. (xiii–xv)
4. Why did Jamestown seem to be the turning point between the previous 5,000 years and the next 200 years? (1–4)
5. Tell of the miraculous effect of the “28 great ideas” upon the United States, as described by President George Washington. (5–6)
Session 2
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 1st Principle: The Genius of Natural Law (pages 37-47)
Questions pertain to “the 28 great ideas that have changed the world.”
1. Briefly describe the Roman statesman Cicero—his life, writings, and fundamental teachings. (Pages 37–39)
2. What are the main characteristics of natural law? (39–40)
3. According to Cicero, what unique trait do God and man have in common? (41)
5. Why do the concepts of natural law so closely harmonize with Christian beliefs? (42–43)
5. What advice would Cicero give to modern lawmakers and citizens of nations? (44–46)
6. Name several concepts in our American system of government that have their basis in natural law. (46–47)
Session 3
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 2nd Principle: A Virtuous and Moral People (pages 49-57)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What big question was on the minds of many Americans before they declared their independence? (Pages 49–51)
2. What event led Americans to serious self-examination regarding their readiness for freedom? (51–52)
3. Explain how the tide of moral reform in America helped to accelerate the Revolution. (52–53)
3. What was the counsel of James Madison, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin concerning the need for future generations to maintain virtue and morality? (54–57)
Session 4
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 3rd Principle: Virtuous and Moral Leaders (pages 59-73)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. According to Samuel Adams, what is one way to identify the true friends of liberty? (Pages 59–60)
2. By what method did the founders want citizens to qualify themselves for public office? (60–62)
3. Describe the founders’ view of the whole subject of politics. (62–64)
4. How did Benjamin Franklin describe the two weaknesses that tempt people in public office? (64–67)
5. What did Franklin prophesy would most likely happen to public officials over time? (67–69)
6. Describe the founders’ efforts to prevent public offices from becoming monetary attractions. (69–73)
Session 5
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 4th Principle: The Role of Religion (pages 75–92)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What three important areas of learning did the founders want taught in the public schools? What document of that period contains these requirements? (Pages 75–76)
2. Which religion was to be taught in the schools? What are the five fundamental principles of all sound religions? (77–79)
3. Describe the role of religion in American life as observed by Alexis de Tocqueville. (79–84)
4. Describe the founders’ campaign for equality of all religions. (84–85)
5. Constitutionally, why and how did the founders exclude the federal government from involving itself in matters of religion? (86–89)
6. What is the origin and meaning of the phrase “a wall of separation between church and state”? (89–90)
7. How were the states encouraged to deal with matters involving religion? (90–92)
Session 6
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 5th Principle: The Role of the Creator (pages 95–101)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. Tell why John Locke concluded that an atheist was “irrational.” (Pages 95–96)
2. Explain the five steps by which, according to Locke, everyone can know there is a divine Creator. (96)
3. Describe several attributes of God which Locke said would be easy for man to identify. (97–98)
4. What are the two ways men learn about God’s laws? What kinds of truths are made known by each method? (98–99)
5. Were the founding fathers deists? Give examples showing that the founders regarded themselves as being dependent on a living, intelligent, benevolent, caring, and responsible God. (99–100)
6. Of what value were religious convictions to the validity of public oaths? (100–101)
Session 7
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 6th Principle: All Men Are Created Equal (pages 103–12)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. In what three ways are all people equal? (Pages 103–4)
2. What does it mean to have equal rights? (105)
3. Ideally, how should minorities cross the “culture gap” and become accepted into society? (105–8)
4. Evaluate the push for “civil rights” over the past three decades. Would the founders have suggested a better way? (108–11)
4. Describe the constitutional amendments that were passed to ensure equal rights. Was there a better way to accomplish this? (111–12)
Session 8
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 7th Principle: Equal Rights, Not Equal Things (pages 115–21)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What powers can be legitimately assigned to government? (Pages 115–16)
2. What are the natural results of a government’s assuming the authority to take from the “haves” and give to the “have nots”? (116–17)
3. Protecting equal rights for all provides for what great economic freedoms?
(117–18)
4. America excelled all other nations in at least four ways because it protected equal rights instead of trying to provide equal things. Name these four achievements. Give proof that the founders made “leveling” unconstitutional. (119)
5. Where did Benjamin Franklin gain experience that helped him learn how to effectively care for the poor? What kind of compassion did he consider counterproductive? (119–20)
5. State the five principles that summarize the founders’ views on how to help the truly poor by means of “calculated” compassion. (120–21)
Session 9
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 8th Principle: Man’s Unalienable Rights (pages 123–29)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What is an unalienable right? What is a vested right? (Pages 124–25)
2. Name some unalienable rights that you hadn’t thought of before reading this chapter. (125–26)
3. What did Thomas Jefferson mean by “the pursuit of happiness”? (127)
4. Name the three great natural rights. (127)
5. Do states also protect unalienable rights? (128)
6. What blessings come from the protection of life? (128–29)
Session 10
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 9th Principle: The Role of Revealed Law (pages 131–39)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What is necessary in order for an unalienable right to be enforceable? (Pages 132–33)
2. How do unalienable duties relate to unalienable rights in both public and private arenas? Give some examples. (133–35)
3. Describe God’s law of criminal justice. (135–36)
4. Tell how God’s law was considered for many centuries to be the supreme law. (137–38)
Session 11
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap:
10th Principle: Sovereignty of the People (pages 141–45);
11th Principle: Who Can Alter the Government? (pages 147–51)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. Why was Algernon Sidney beheaded? (Pages 141–42)
2. According to John Locke, what two standards must be met in order for an office holder to have proper authority to act? (142–43)
3. Describe the concept of “sovereign authority of the people” among the Anglo-Saxons. (143)
4. According to Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, why should the people never have to fear the federal government? (143–45)
5. At what point are the people justified in altering or abolishing their government? (147–48)
6. Who has the power to change government? (148–50)
Session 12
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 12th Principle: Advantages of a Republic (pages 153–61)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What is a democracy? Why does democracy always end in tyranny? (Pages 153–54)
2. What is a republic? Why did the founders prefer it to a democracy? (154–55)
3. Describe how the word “democracy” became a tool of the socialist cause. (155–57)
4. Tell how the government’s own literature once distinguished between a democracy and a republic. (157–58)
5. Explain how the term “democracy” became entrenched as a description of our society during President Woodrow Wilson’s administration. (158–59)
6. How has the word “democracy” lost its identification with socialism in the American mind? (159–60)
7. Can it be said that the term “democracy” has actually been used to attack the Constitution? (160–61)
Session 13
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 13th Principle: Protection Against Human Frailty (pages 163–67)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. According to Alexander Hamilton, what is the greatest danger to the people’s rights? (Pages 163–64)
2. Describe Thomas Jefferson’s feelings about trusting our political leaders. (164)
3. George Washington said that government is neither reason nor eloquence. What did he call it? (165)
4. Describe James Madison’s two-step approach to developing a good government. (165–66)
5. Why will the Constitution never be obsolete or old-fashioned? (166)
6. At what point should patriotic Americans sound the alarm over an erosion of our liberties? (166–67)
Session 14
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 14th Principle: Property Rights Essential to Liberty (pages 169–77)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. According to English common law, what is the origin of property? (Pages 169–70)
2. What does “ownership” mean, and why is it necessary to help man subdue and gain dominion over the earth? (170)
3. Without property rights, what four things would happen? (170–71)
4. Why is an attack on private property rights actually an attack on life itself? (171–72)
5. How is ownership acquired? (172)
6. Which should be regarded as sacred—property or property rights? (172–73)
7. What is the primary purpose of government? (173–75)
8. How has history proven the value of property rights? (176)
8. How do we care for the poor without violating property rights? (176–77)
Session 15
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 15th Principle: Free-market Economics (pages 179–91)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. Where did the founders find direction regarding the kind of economic system they should set up? (Pages 179–80)
2. Name six elements of Adam Smith’s free-market formula. (180)
3. For any nation to maximize freedom and prosperity, what four laws of economic freedom must be maintained? (180–81)
4. Identify four areas where, according to the founders and Adam Smith, government can legitimately intervene in the economy. (181–82)
5. Describe the events that occurred around 1900 that caused Adam Smith’s free-market formula to be replaced. What replaced it? (182–85)
6. Are Americans reawakening to the wisdom of Adam Smith? (185–86)
7. What major reform must take place before free-market economics can be fully restored? (187)
8. What was Thomas Jefferson’s warning about allowing private interests to control our monetary system? (188–90)
9. When hard-fought reforms brought America close to an ideal monetary system, what did the power centers of Europe have to say about it? (190)
Session 16
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 16th Principle: The Separation of Powers (pages 193–202)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. Who was Polybius? When did he live? How many history books did he write? (Pages 193–94)
2. According to Polybius, what were the advantages and disadvantages of a monarchy, an aristocracy, and a democracy? (194)
3. Describe Polybius’s suggestion for a “mixed” government. (194–95)
4. Who was Baron Charles de Montesquieu? What great work did he produce that proved to be of immense help to the founders? (195–96)
5. How did Montesquieu emphasize the need for three branches of government? (196–97)
6. What was the heated debate about the executive branch that took place in the Constitutional Convention? (197–98)
7. Describe the development of the separation-of-powers doctrine in America. How did John Adams refer to the science of politics? (198–200)
8. Describe John Adams’s struggle against the popular thinking of his time in trying to promote his ideas on sound government. (200–202)
Session 17
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 17th Principle: Checks and Balances (pages 205–15)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. After the founders convinced the people of the need for a separation of powers, what great challenge did they face? (Page 205)
2. Which founder gave perhaps the most detailed reasoning for a system of checks and balances? Where is it recorded? (206–7)
3. Explain the difference between “blending” the powers of government and “usurping” them. Why has it proven a difficult task to maintain the delicate difference? (207–8)
4. Tell about two different ideas that were tried or suggested in the founding period as ways of protecting the people from abusive government. (208–9)
5. How did the founders finally conclude that a system of checks and balances was the best and only answer? (210–11)
6. How many internal checks are provided for in the Constitution? What final check do the people have? (211–13)
7. What was George Washington’s advice about preserving the constitutional system of checks and balances? (213–14)
8. How has this ingenious device been effectively used as a means of peaceful self-repair? (214–15)
Session 18
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap:
18th Principle: Importance of a Written Constitution (pages 217–21);
19th Principle: Limiting and Defining the Powers of Government (223–27)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What was the one weakness of the Anglo-Saxon common law? (Page 217)
2. What did the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants learn from the Norman conquest and its eventual results? (217–18)
3. Describe the origins of written constitutions in American history. Why is the first constitution of Connecticut especially noteworthy? (218–19)
4. When compared to other civilizations, what’s one of the main differences in how the American system of government was framed? Has this contributed to its longevity? (219–21)
5. What was one of the principles emphasized most vigorously during the Constitutional Convention? (223)
6. What did the states require to help ease their fears of intrusion by the new national government? (223–24)
7. Explain the principle of dual sovereignty. Why was it absolutely necessary to maintain a healthy balance between the national and state governments? (225)
8. Describe the damage done to this delicate balance by the Seventeenth Amendment. (226–27)
Session 19 (Page 1 of 2)
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap:
20th Principle: Majority Rule, Minority Rights (pages 229–32);
21st Principle: Strong Local Self-Government (pages 235–40)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What was the serious defect in the Articles of Confederation that made it virtually impossible for the American people to improve the structure of their government? (Page 229)
2. After reading John Locke’s explanation of majority rule, how binding do you think a majority’s decision should be in your community? Is there any room for civil disobedience? (229–30)
3. According to Locke, what is the alternative to majority rule? How practical is it to achieve that? (230)
4. Why is it a problem to require even a two-thirds majority in Congress for the passage of ordinary legislation? (230–31)
5. Although the majority rules in our society, what protection is extended to all people? (231–32)
6. Explain the harm that comes to a people when political power becomes too centralized. (235)
Session 19 (Page 2 of 2)
7. What’s the golden key to preserving freedom? (235–36)
8. How did New England revive the Anglo-Saxon institutes of local self-government? (236–37)
9. How did Thomas Jefferson describe the distribution of powers among different levels of government? (239)
10. How did James Madison describe the distribution of powers between the national and state governments? (239)
11. Describe the size of the federal government as envisioned by Jefferson. (239–40)
12. What was the warning of historian John Fiske concerning the growth of the central government? (240)
Session 20
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 22nd Principle: Government by Law, Not by Men (pages 243–47)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. How can one tell when a nation is being ruled by the “whims of men”? (Page 243)
2. Define law. In a free society, to whom should the law apply? (244)
3. Why is there no liberty without law? (244)
4. According to John Locke, what does law do for man? (244)
5. How did John Adams and Aristotle describe the blessings of fixed law? (244–45)
6. What did Plato advocate as the best way to govern? (245)
7. What’s the basic difference between the founders’ view of law and Plato’s view? (246)
8. How did the founders further clarify what good laws should be like? (246–47)
Session 21 (Page 1 of 2)
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 23rd Principle: Importance of an Educated Electorate (pages 249–56)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What underlying principle compelled the founders to advocate universal education? (Page 249)
2. How was Massachusetts organized to provide universal education? What year was this system established? (250)
3. How did John Adams describe public education in New England? (251)
4. Describe local school boards in New England during the founding era. (251)
5. Compare the literacy rates of Europe and America at that time. (251)
Session 21 (Page 2 of 2)
6. How did Alexis de Tocqueville describe the American education system in 1831? (252)
7. How did Tocqueville characterize the American pioneer? (252–53)
8. According to Tocqueville, how well acquainted were Americans with their system of government? (253–54)
9. Why were even the young children knowledgeable about their government at that time? (254)
10. How well did these early Americans know the English language? To what did they attribute this knowledge? (255)
11. What did a knowledge of the Bible do for Americans of that era? (255–56)
Session 22
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 24th Principle: Peace through Strength (pages 259–65)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What does an industrious, prosperous nation usually attract? (Page 259)
2. According to the founders, what two things are necessary to maintain freedom and prosperity? (260)
3. According to Benjamin Franklin, what advantage will come to America because of its strength and readiness? (260)
4. What great responsibility do our leaders have to the people? (260–61)
5. What great benefits did Franklin foresee as the population and wealth of America grew? (261)
6. What was Franklin’s opinion of Americans who refused to help pay for the defense of their own liberty? (261–62)
7. Why was George Washington considered highly qualified to comment on America’s state of readiness? (262)
8. What was the warning President Washington expressed in his fifth annual address to Congress? What was happening to necessitate such a warning? (263–64)
9. Describe Samuel Adams’s feelings about our responsibility to preserve God’s gift of liberty. (264–65)
Session 23 (Page 1 of 2)
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 25th Principle: Avoid Entangling Alliances (pages 267–78)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. What was Thomas Jefferson’s motto regarding foreign relations? (Page 267)
2. Did the founders ever consider alliances with other nations necessary? (267)
3. Which term best describes the founders’ position on foreign relations—“isolationism” or “separatism”? (267–68)
4. Which European nation has managed to follow a policy of separatism? (268)
5. Describe George Washington’s views on the United States as an example to mankind. (268–69)
6. What did Washington say about the advisability of classifying foreign nations as friends or enemies? (269)
Session 23 (Page 2 of 2)
7. What’s the problem with favoring some countries over others? (269–71)
8. According to Washington, what should our foreign policy be? (271–73)
9. What was the founders’ underlying reason for wanting to remain separate from other nations? (273–74)
10. Explain how “internationalism” has replaced “separatism” in U.S. foreign policy. (274–76)
11. Describe J. Reuben Clark’s dream of America as a world peacemaker. (276–78)
Session 24 (Page 1 of 2)
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 26th Principle: Protecting the Role of the Family (pages 281–88)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. According to Alexis de Tocqueville, how did family life in America differ from family life in Europe during the 1830s? (Pages 281–82)
2. How are men and women equal under God’s law? What did John Locke say to support this position? (282–83)
3. How did the lifestyle of early American families contribute to their success? (283–84)
4. Is Benjamin Franklin a legitimate source of advice on happy family life? Why? (284–85)
5. How did Franklin attempt to persuade a young friend to get married? (285)
Session 24 (Page 2 of 2)
6. Explain why parental authority is based on natural law. (285–86)
7. According to Locke, what is the meaning of maturity? (286–87)
8. What is the responsibility of children to their parents? Does it have roots in natural law? (287)
9. Why did Locke say that no government should interfere with legitimate family relations? (287–88)
Session 25
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 27th Principle: Avoiding the Burden of Debt (pages 291–303)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. Describe at least two ways a person can become a slave. (Page 291)
2. What is debt? (291–92)
3. How did Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin feel about personal debt? (293–94)
4. Did the founders feel any differently toward national debt? What about inherited debt? (294–96)
5. What priority did the founders give to debt retirement? (296–97)
6. What fundamental principles have U.S. political leaders violated in the process of accumulating today’s massive national debt? (297–301)
7. What remedies can solve our national debt crisis? Do you think politicians know the real answers? (301–3)
Session 26
Reading Assignment
The Five Thousand Year Leap: 28th Principle: The Founders’ Sense of Manifest Destiny (pages 305–10)
Questions pertain to preparing the “cultural soil” for the Constitution.
1. According to most historians, what outstanding feature was common to early Americans? Can you give an example? (Pages 305–6)
2. Can you provide evidence that the founders regarded themselves and their countrymen as master servants rather than a master race? (306–7)
3. What crime did John Adams say Americans would be guilty of if they abandoned freedom? (307)
4. What were John Jay’s reasons for believing that America had been the recipient of God’s blessings? (307–8)
5. What events seemed to prove the accuracy of Jay’s assessment? (309)
6. How did James Madison characterize the uniqueness of the American experiment? (309–10)
