Our Founders believed Almighty God endowed us with the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The majestic words of the Declaration of Independence established the vision and conscience of our country. From the moment the Founding Fathers signed their names to that document, slavery was over. It would take nearly a century and cost the lives of over 600,000 Americans to bring about its inevitable end. There was a fearful question about what the end of slavery would mean. E.W. Jackson is part of the answer. The end of slavery produced free Americans of African ancestry who love this country more than life itself. E.W. Jackson is a product of the painful mistakes and heroic sacrifices which are the American experience. Whether by accident of fate or divine destiny, he is a citizen of the greatest nation in the history of the world. He is " a patriot descended from slaves" sounding the clarion call to come together around our shared legacy of freedom and common destiny as Americans. There is no guarantee of success for nations or individuals. Success is earned, often with great struggle. Our Founding Fathers understood that the indispensable ingredient of success is freedom. They designed the Constitution to limit the power of government and insure the liberty of the individual. Jackson says, " It worked. We are free people under a Constitution that has lasted nearly a quarter of a millennium, and it behooves us to protect and preserve what we have." This book is devoted to the preservation of what Jackson calls this " sweet land of liberty" - the Constitutional Republic known around the world as the United States of America.
