The Constitution: Introduction

There is a fable of an old man in medieval times who was planting a fig tree. As he bent over his shovel, carefully preparing the hole for the tree, some riders came by on horseback. They looked at the old man straining to complete his task and asked the old man what he was doing. "I am planting this tree," he replied. Laughing, they asked the old man how old he was. He proudly replied, "I am 92 years old, sirs." "Old man, that is a fig tree," they taunted. "Don’t you know that you will never live to taste its fruit?" The old man raised himself up and looked at the arrogant young men and said, "But you will, sirs. Did you ever taste the fruit of a tree and ask who planted it?"

Well, did you? That is our task. We will look at the "tree of constitutionalism," and we will begin to discover who planted it and what was on their minds. In this lesson we will examine the influence of European Enlightenment philosophers and the documents that comprise the British Constitution on the American Constitution.