These selections have been drawn from systematic philosophies; from opinions expressed in law and judicial decisions; from speeches or pamphlets struck off in the heat of controversy; from political and diplomatic correspondence. They are grouped to focus attention on the perennial issues of liberty, equality, and security in about a dozen significant periods of American history. Volume I, Part 1, begins with a consideration of truth and liberty in the seventeenth century, continues with a study of the issues of the American Revolution, and concludes with a study of the Confederation and the Constitution.

The organization of the readings puts the issues in the context of four fundamental relationships: the citizen and the economy (and, within the economy, the interrelations of major interest groups); the federal union and the states; the United States and the world. The best available texts have been used. Introductions and explanatory notes relate the readings to one another, suggest the circumstances in which they were written, and provide biographical information about the authors.