ePub Toward an American Revolution: Exposing the Constitution and Other Illusions by Jerry Fresia in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Four StarsBy C. GriffinGood read.12 of 12 people found the following review helpful. A Real Eye OpenerBy Dr Stuart Jeanne BramhallI knew virtually nothing about the framing of the US Constitution when I first read this book. Fortunately Fresia's writing style is clear and elegantly simple - which is ideal for the politically uninitiated. He lays out how the Constitutional Convention was actually a secret meeting of rich property owners and merchants who saw that their business interests (greater economic development; expanded trade and accumulated personal wealth) threatened by smaller landholders who had seized control of the legislatures of 12 out of 13 of the original colonies. The smaller farmers; like farmers everywhere; depended on an economy based on credit and bartering. The merchant class; on the other hand; wanted a centralized economy based on hard currency - which they needed to advance their exceedingly lucrative trade with Great Britain and the West Indies.George Washington; Alexander Hamilton; James Madison and the others who met in secret to draw up a Constitution which would tranfer power from relatively autonomous state assemblies to a centralized federal government; agreed from the outset that what they wanted was a system more like Great Britain. They didn't want a king; but they did want a system of government in which the business elite could use government authority to promote the expansion of a private economy independently of what the common people might think was in their best interest.Fresia describes how the Framers created the so-called "checks and balances" of the three branches of government - not to protect the interest of the common people - but to ensure that property interests retain a greater voice than ordinary people. He also reminds us that the Senate; in which a tiny state like Rhode Island ends up with the same number of votes; as an enormous state like California is given far more power in the Constitution than House (with longer terms; as well as the power to approve treaties and all presidential appointees).He then describes the dirty tricks the Framers used to get 11 legislatures to ratify the Constitution (they set it up so they only needed 9); in the face of overwhelming opposition from the majority of enfranchised American voters.The second half of Towards an American Revolution fast forwards to the twentieth century to demonstrate how the US has continued to be ruled by a secret political elite with a specific agenda of suppressing democracy when it interferes with their business interests. The examples Fresia gives include America's "secret police" force under the FBI's Cointelpo operation; the role of President Herbert Hoover and US industrialists (represented by Wall Street lawyer Allen Dulles) in financing the rise of Hitler; the subsequent appointment of Dulles to head the most powerful secret police appartaus in history (the CIA) and his incorporation of Nazi war criminals into US intelligence networks; the role of "secret government" in the assassination of JFK; the corruption of our democratically elected representatives by corporate lobbyists and Reagan's illegal war in Nicaragua.By Dr Stuart Jeanne Bramhall; author of THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY ACT: MEMOIR OF AN AMERICAN REFUGEE11 of 13 people found the following review helpful. The Hobo PhilosopherBy Richard E. NobleThis book was published in 1988. I picked it up fifteen or 20 years ago.When I first picked it up I was rather outraged by its slandering of our glorious constitution. It prompted me to consider buying a book containing the Constitution. Then; after retrieving this book from the garbage can; I found that it contained a copy of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the back.Since that time I have read numerous books on and about the Constitution and I now keep Jerry Fresia's "Towards an American Revolution" as a reference manual. I am about ready to read it again for a second go around.Unfortunately for all of us Constitution lovers (who never bothered to read the Constitution or read background on it) this book will come as somewhat of a surprise. We find out so many new things. For example:Many of our Forefathers were really not much in favor of a democracy; they wanted a republic. There's a big difference. Most of them owned slaves. This book list those that did and the number of slaves that they had. The forefathers weren't for universal suffrage. They relegated blacks as recognizable enough to count but not as a whole person and certainly not capable of voting - women either. Actually slavery was pretty much a OK deal. They were not for the "rabble" or the common herd. Common people could prove to be difficult. They liked the property owners.At first I was shocked by this book. I now know that it is very accurate and much of what many of us think we know about our country is a part of the American mythology and our personal delusions. Actually the Magna Carta wasn't all that great either - but it too was a positive step in the right direction.When you hear a Supreme Court Judge stating that he is a strict Constitutionalist; after reading this book you will know this is akin to being a person who probably still believes in the literal interpretation of the Bible.This is a great book. It has lots of historical information - and none of it is out of date. In fact; nothing much has changed. The book is true; not radical. The slant might be considered radical as opposed to traditional. If you have been reading Howard Zinn; Micheal Parenti; or Noam Chomsky; you will be right at home. In fact; this book will be on the mild side and almost opinion-free in comparison. If your favorite historian is more to the conservative side and you are currently studying the hopeful possibility of reviving slavery or at least literacy tests for voting; you may not like the author's attitude. But other than that; you should find the book describing the America that you would probably like to return to.Richard Edward Noble - The Hobo Philosopher - Author of:"America on Strike" American Labor - History