The View from 1776 presents a framework to understand present-
day issues from the viewpoint of the colonists who fought for
American independence in 1776 and wrote the Constitution in
1787. Knowing and preserving those understandings, what might be
called the unwritten constitution of our nation, is vital to
preserving constitutional government. Without them, the bare
words of the Constitution are just a Rorschach ink-blot that
politicians, educators, and judges can interpret to mean
anything they wish. "We have no government armed with the power
capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality
and true religion. Our constitution is made only for a moral and
religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of
any other." John Adams, to the Officers of the First Brigade,
Third Division, Massachusetts Militia, October 11, 1798. This
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