The Founders? Almanac is a practical guide to the notable events, eloquent words, and greatest leaders of the American Founding. It is a handbook focusing on the origins of American constitutionalism.
The book is designed to be used on a regular basis depending on the reader's circumstances or opportunity. The Calendar of Notable Events is a listing and brief explanation of important events, personages, speeches, and writings from the American Founding. The biographical essays introduce readers to the leading Founders. The compilation of quotations, organized by topic and carefully compiled from primary and secondary sources, should be especially useful to speakers, writers, and students in search of the best words from America's Founders.
Also included are three primary documents - the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and Washington's Farewell Address. An introduction precedes each document to put the document's original meaning in context as well as explain its current relevance. Marginal notes throughout the documents will help guide the eye to pertinent topics, and an extensive index of the Constitution allows quick reference to its key sections and clauses. A brief essay on the signers of the Declaration of Independence is also included, as well as a commentary on and the American Founding.
Several other resources can be found at the back of the book. An extensive, annotated bibliography will guide additional reading on the subject and also notes several good sources of information on the Web.
Matthew Spalding is the Director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Previously, Spalding was a Senior Policy Analyst at The Claremont Institute, a public policy think tank in Southern California, where he is currently an Adjunct Fellow.
He is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College and has a Ph.D. in Government from The Claremont Graduate School, where his work concentrated on government, political philosophy and American political thought. A Henry Salvatori Dissertation Fellow with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, he has taught American government at George Mason University, the Catholic University of America and Claremont McKenna College.
Spalding is the author of A Sacred Union of Citizens: Washington's Farewell Address and the American Character, the co-editor of Patriot Sage: George Washington and the American Political Tradition and the editor of The Founders? Almanac: A Practical Guide to the Notable Events, Greatest Leaders & Most Eloquent Words of the American Founding.
