Ratification: Struggle for the Constitution will be the first national public television documentary devoted to the yearlong state-by-state battle for ratification of the Constitution—perhaps the most important story of America never told.

“The ratification of the Constitution was the most comprehensive and consequential political debate in American history.” —Joseph Ellis, Pulitzer Prize-winner for Founding Brothers

Ratification: Struggle for the Constitution brings the ratification to life with portrayals of the Founders speaking their own words, with insightful scholarly commentary, and with skillful documentary storytelling. As the story unfolds, the film captures the immediate excitement, drama, and motivations of Founders’ personal experiences in their struggle to form their fledgling nation—a struggle that nearly ended in failure many times along the way. The film relies closely on the original writings of the Founders, reports of their contemporaries, and interpretations by leading modern scholars.


Illustration courtesy of The Granger Collection, NY

Noted authors and eminent historians infuse Ratification: Struggle for the Constitution with their expert analysis and vivid insights. Chief historical consultant on the project is Dr. Pauline Maier, considered by many to be the world’s leading authority on the ratification.

Pauline Maier is the 2011 winner of the George Washington Book Prize for Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788. Maier is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of American History at MIT. Her other books include From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition to Britain, 1765-1776, The Old Revolutionaries: Political Lives in the Age of Samuel Adams, The American People: A History, a textbook for junior high school students, and American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence, which was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist.

"To this time, the ratification debates have been given relatively little attention. In some ways, they are the most important. This was the first time in world history anything like that happened. It was a monumental event.” —Pauline Maier

Gordon Wood was recently awarded a 2010 National Humanities Medal by President Obama. His 1992 book, The Radicalism of the American Revolution, won the Pulitzer Prize and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize. He is the author of The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787, which won the Bancroft Prize and the John H. Dunning Prize. The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin won the Julia Ward Howe Prize from the Boston Authors Club in 2005. Dr. Wood has devoted his career to incorporating the shifting ideas and social and political developments defining the early American Republic into a convincing and riveting whole. The Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University, Professor Wood’s scholarship has profoundly influenced colleagues in his field and attracted a wide readership. His Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize. His most recent book is Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States. Through his work, Wood provides readers with a sweeping panorama of early America. His uncanny ability to capture the sense of turbulence and vast transformation have made him one of the most influential historians of his generation.



Jack Rakove won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution, which questioned whether originalism is a comprehensive and exhaustive means of interpreting the Constitution. Among his many influential works are The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress, James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic, and Declaring Rights: A Brief History with Documents. His latest book, Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America was published in 2010. Dr. Rakove is the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies and also Professor of Political Science and (by courtesy) of Law at Stanford University.

“The adoption of the Constitution in 1787-1788 was the first great stroke of popular democracy in America, and perhaps its most successful and momentous.” —Jack Rakove

Akhil Reed Amar is an expert on constitutional law and criminal procedure.The Supreme Court has cited his work in over 20 cases. A Legal Affairs poll placed Amar among the top 20 contemporary US legal thinkers. He is the Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School and is the author of numerous publications and books, most recently the acclaimed America’s Constitution: A Biography. Other major works include The Constitution and Criminal Procedure: First Principles and The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction.

“This year of ratification is nothing less than an American Big Bang. It creates a tremendous amount of energy bringing the people together. Never really happened before in world history.” —Akhil Reed Amar

Rick Beeman is the 2010 winner of the George Washington Book Prize for his work Plain Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution. He has written extensively on aspects of America's political and constitutional history including his newest book, The Penguin Guide to the United States Constitution. Dr. Beeman is the John Welsh Centennial Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution Center and is Chair of the Constitution Center's Committee on Programs, Exhibits, and Education. Professor Beeman has received numerous awards, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and the Huntington Library. He has served as a Fulbright Professor in the United Kingdom and as Vyvian Harmsworth Distinguished Professor of American History at Oxford University. He is at work on a "prequel" to his book on the Constitutional Convention.





Carol Berkin is an expert on women's history in colonial American. She has written widely on the subject in several books including Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence, First Generations—Women in Colonial American, Women's Voices/Women's Lives: Documents in Early American History, and Women, War and Revolution. Through her research, Professor Berkin has brought vivid portraits of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century women as active participants in the creation of their societies. She won the Colonial Dames of America Book Prize in 2004 for A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution. Dr. Berkin also wrote Jonathan Sewall: Odyssey of an American Loyalist and Civil War Wives: The Life and Times of Angelina Grimke Weld, Varina Howell Davis, and Julia Dent Grant. She is the Presidential Professor of History at Baruch College and a member of the history faculty of the Graduate Center of CUNY. She serves on the Board of The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the Board of the National Council for History Education.





Ralph Ketcham has written and edited numerous books on American history and democracy including The Anti-Federalist Papers and The Constitutional Convention Debates, Presidents above Party: The First American Presidency, 1789-1829, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and The Idea of Democracy in the Modern Era. His most recent work is The Madisons at Montpelier: Reflections on the Founding Couple. Dr. Ketcham is Professor of History Emeritus at Syracuse University and a former editor of The Papers of James Madison. His National Book Award–nominated James Madison: A Biography is the standard single-volume biography of the fourth president.








David O. Stewart is the author of The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution. He has practiced law for more than twenty-five years and has challenged government actions as unconstitutional in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Summer of 1787 was on the Washington Post bestseller list for several weeks, won the Washington Writing Award for Best Book of 2007, and made several "best books" lists for 2007. Stewart also wrote the Davis-Kidd Bestseller Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy. His new book is entitled American Emperor: Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America in 2011.








Michael Meyerson is a professor of law and Piper & Marbury Faculty Fellow at the University of Baltimore, specializing in constitutional law and American legal history. Professor Meyerson’s most recent book is Liberty’s Blueprint: How Madison and Hamilton Wrote The Federalist Papers, Defined the Constitution, and Made Democracy Safe for the World. He is also the author of Political Numeracy: Mathematical Perspectives on Our Chaotic Constitution. Professor Meyerson’s 2012 book, Endowed by Our Creator tells the story of the creation of the American vision for freedom of religion.









Christopher Collier has written extensively about the Founding Era including books for adults such as Roger Sherman's Connecticut: Yankee Politics and the American Revolution, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, Decision in Philadelphia (with James Lincoln Collier), and All Politics Is Local about Connecticut's role in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Dr. Collier has also authored bestselling books for children such as My Brother Sam Is Dead, which was awarded a Newbery Honor, Jump Ship to Freedom and six other historical novels written with his brother James. He was the official Connecticut State Historian (1984–2004) and is now professor of history emeritus at the University of Connecticut.








Stuart Leibiger is an expert on George Washington and James Madison. He is the author of Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic, which chronicles the little-known personal and professional relationship Washington and Madison shared. Dr. Leibiger is also an expert on the framing and ratification of the U.S. Constitution. He is Assistant Professor of History at LaSalle University.










Please help us create this important television program.
During these difficult economic times, funding has become even more of a challenge. Any contribution will make a big difference. Thank you!

Our mission is to tell the story of how we, the people, ratified the Constitution and to convey that story in an accessible and entertaining way so that viewers will have a meaningful understanding about the ratification debates and will recognize they too have the power and responsibility of citizenship in their own lives. This civic agenda is a reflection of the Center for Civic Education’s mission statement of nonpartisan education “dedicated to promoting an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy.”

Ratification: Struggle for the Constitution Educational Initiative
The project includes a nationwide online and multiplatform civic education initiative for both students and adults. It integrates a far-reaching coalition of scholars, teachers, youth advisors, national civic leaders, organizations, agencies, and production partners including The Center for Civic Education—the world’s most influential civic education organization.

The Center for Civic Education is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational corporation dedicated to promoting an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy in the United States and other countries. With an active and growing network of more than 30,000 teachers, the Center administers a wide array of critically acclaimed curricular, professional development, and community-based programs with a focus on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights; American political traditions and institutions at the federal, state, and local levels; constitutionalism; civic participation; and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.



A 2004 federal law established September 17 of every year as Constitution Day. The US Department of Education now mandates that every publicly-funded school shall provide an educational program about the Constitution on Constitution Day. In addition to our broadcast documentary, the Ratification: Struggle for the Constitution project will include an engaging series of educational resources in partnership with The Center for Civic Education that will address many of the civics and Constitution Day requirements for high schools and college-level curricular.

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.” —James Madison

A 1997 NCC poll revealed that the vast majority of US adults (84%) believe that in order for our system of government to work as intended, citizens must have a basic understanding of it. Yet only 5% could correctly answer ten rudimentary questions about the Constitution. 6% were unable to answer even one question correctly. A similar 1996 Zogby poll of high school students found that more teens could name three of the Three Stooges than could name the three branches of government (59% to 41%). These findings mirror a nationwide survey of adults that was conducted on the Constitution’s 200th anniversary. It found that only 54% of Americans knew the purpose of the Constitution. A disturbing 26% believed the document was our declaration of independence from England. Only 40% of adults knew the Bill of Rights consisted of the first ten amendments. These surveys glaringly expose the systemic lack of adequate factual and conceptual knowledge about the Constitution. The debates that began in 1787 continue to this day: without this basic knowledge, how can U.S. citizens begin to understand the important constitutional issues that are disputed daily in our society and courts of law?

The surveys and the federal mandate provide compelling evidence why this documentary project is needed. But it is the series’ own novelistic story approach that will compel TV viewers and students to watch. The story is filled with examples of dramatic conflicts and colorful characters on both sides of the contest. Scores of people participate in the ratification debates but George Washington, James Madison, and the enigmatic Alexander Hamilton play essential roles and become the main characters in our dynamic plot. Several “unsung heroes,” including James Wilson, George Mason, and Melancton Smith, infuse the story with inspirations of genius and, at times, moments of human frailty.

The story of the Constitution is also James Madison’s personal story—he is crucially involved at every decisive moment and his determination and perspective informs the narrative throughout. After numerous compromises and distortions of his ideal plan for government, Madison is left feeling despondent and dejected. Over the course of the narrative, he travels a dramatic character arc. For example, Madison ardently opposes a bill of rights during the convention and ratification, yet would become known as the “Father of the Bill of Rights.”

The battle for the ratification is fraught with politics and regional bias. Slavery haunts the debates, yet only a few point out the incongruity. Many prominent and influential leaders fiercely oppose ratification of the Constitution, especially New York’s powerful governor, George Clinton, and in pivotal Virginia where proponents of the Constitution face a formidable adversary and the greatest orator of his age—Patrick Henry.

"As the instrument came from them [framers of the Constitution], it was nothing more than the draft of a plan, nothing but a dead letter, until life and validity were breathed into it, by the voice of the people, speaking through the several state conventions." —James Madison

Just as David Garrigus Productions created the definitive documentary about the birth of flight, Ratification: Struggle for the Constitution promises to deliver a highly accurate, vividly detailed, and engaging story about the birth of a nation. Completion of the project will coincide with the 225 anniversary of the ratification of the Constitution in the summer of 2013.

Contact:
David Garrigus
david(at)davidgarrigus(dot)com
910-233-5522

Now available on DVD and YouTube™, Creativity in Mathematics: Inquiry-Based Learning and the Moore Method explores the world of Inquiry-Based Learning and seeks to identify the reasons behind its celebrated success. More than twenty-five influential teachers, top researchers, inventors, and leaders of industry attest to the life changing rewards that began for them in a classroom taught by IBL and the Moore Method.

Mathematics historian Dr. Albert Lewis describes the pioneering teacher who developed this method:

"R.L. Moore was the founder of a branch of mathematics, point-set-topology, which in itself would give him a place in history. He's become even better known as a teacher of mathematicians. He developed a way of teaching, which he was able to bring students up to a kind of research level in mathematics almost without them being aware of it. But however he managed to do it, it resulted in probably the most distinguished group of PhD students that any professor has ever had to their credit and not just in the United States but perhaps in the history of mathematics. Someone once asked Moore, ‘Do you really expect that all of your students should become research mathematicians?’ And his response, I thought, was marvelous. He said, ‘No, but I hope that they all want to become mathematicians.’ What the Moore proponents would say is, ‘Look at this model and make it work for you.’ We know it worked for Moore and it worked for a lot of his students. There's been nothing like it in the history of modern education in terms of a clear-cut model of success in a field that nobody argues with."

Dr. Michael Starbird, Distinguished Teaching Professor at The University of Texas at Austin, summarizes why Inquiry-Based Learning is so critically important to the future of education:

“To me, the purpose of education is clearly to make the students independent thinkers—to make them able to take the challenges that they're going to be faced with, which are the challenges that we do not know today. The questions haven't even been asked. And allow them to have the ability, the confidence, the competence, and the analytical ability, the critical thinking ability, and the independence in their way of viewing the world to take on those challenges and to think their way through them. It assists in finding good imaginative solutions to problems that have not yet been posed.”

In addition to the featured presentation, this DVD includes over thirty minutes of special features including testimonials and insights that enable viewers to futher investigate IBL and the Moore Method. Soon, the film and a wealth of additional resources will be available on the web at www.discovery.utexas.edu/rlm or call the Educational Advancement Foundation at 512-469-1700 for more information.

Underwritten by the Educational Advancement Foundation.

We have collected hours of dramatic high-definition flight footage and rare interviews with over 40 of the men and women who played critical roles in the history of the U-2 Spy Plane. We are currently seeking development partners that can assist us in bringing this special documentary to television.

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