Original Intent of Americas Founders: Discovery of Rare Documents Results in U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights Series"

SUMMARY: Historian Dr. Gregory Schaafs find of rare 200-year-old documents helps explain the original intent of Americas founding fathers. The first cache of papers, found in a neighbors old trunk, include original documents by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and other early founders. The original discovery was reported in the New York Times, National Geographic Magazine, and People Magazine. Dr. Schaafs study of the papers and related documents in the National Archives and Library of Congress have resulted in the publication of Vol. 1 -- Franklin, Jefferson, & Madison: On Religion and the State (CIAC Press, 2004), the first of a ten-volume U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights Series." On June 26-29, Dr. Schaaf will announce his findings at the American Library Association annual conference. On July 4, the book will be introduced in the New York Times Book Review and the New York Times Magazine.

(PRWEB) July 4, 2004 -- The discovery of rare documents written by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and other early founders was reported during the Bi-Centennial of the Declaration of Independence by the New York Times. The story of how historian Gregory Schaaf found the papers in an old trunk belonging to Susannah Morgan, of Santa Barbara, California, an 83-year-old descendant of Revolutionary War figure Col. George Morgan, was more fully reported by National Geographic Magazine and People Magazine. An Associated Press story shared news of the discovery with millions of readers around the world.
    
Dr. Gregory Schaaf, now Director of the Center for Indigenous Arts and Cultures in Santa Fe, New Mexico, originally found the trunk full of historic documents and wrote a doctoral dissertation on the papers under the supervision of the late Dr. Wilbur Jacobs, past-president of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association. He helped get the papers authenticated at the Huntington Library in Pasadena, California.
    
What is so important about these historic documents," Dr. Schaaf will announce at the 2004 American Library Association annual conference in Orlando, Florida, are the powerful ideas written by the founders that reveal their original intent in creating our nation. Furthermore, the birth of America involved people of diverse cultures, Native Americans, and women more than previously presented in general U.S. history books. The discovery of the first cache of papers led us on a search through the National Archives, Library of Congress, and other institutions. Evidence of the original intent of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights now is being released in a new series of history books. At a time when our Constitutional rights are being chipped away, these historic papers document the original principles upon which the United States was founded. We believe the original intent of Americas founders is important for all Americans to understand and to preserve."
    
Dr. Schaaf testified in 1987 before a U.S. Senate committee of the 100th Congress regarding the origins of the U.S. Constitution. As a result of his testimony and that of other scholars, the Senate passed 100-0 Senate Concurrent Resolution 76, passed in the House of Representatives and signed by then President George Bush, officially recognizing that American Indians influenced the U.S. Constitution. The birth of America was much more multi-cultural than previously acknowledged," Dr. Schaaf concluded.
    
The publication of Vol. 1 -- Franklin, Jefferson, & Madison: On Religion and the State (CIAC Press, 2004) is timely, the first of a planned ten-volume set. During the past three years, Church and State issues have increasingly been in the media, and several cases have been fought up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Regarding the separation of Church and State, James Madison stated, "Religion and the government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed."
    
Thomas Jefferson, who drafted A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom," later wrote to a Protestant minister, I consider the government of the U.S. as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, or exercises."
    
Benjamin Franklin, who called for prayer to break the stalemate at the first Constitutional Convention, later confided, I never doubted . . . the existence of the Deity [God], that he made the world, and [governed] it by his Providence, that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man."
    
This first volume," Dr. Schaaf explained, portrays the lives of Franklin, Jefferson, and Madison as sincerely religious men. They kept their religions mostly private but shared their deepest feelings in personal letters. They often wrote to one another in secret code. After drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson feared they might be charged with heresy, because they called for an end of public money going to the Church of England. Jefferson even wrote the 'Lords Prayer in secret code, a document preserved in the Library of Congress."
    
Volume 2 will be on the original intent of other aspects of the First Amendment -- freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The book will explain that it is not only our right, but our responsibility" to peacefully protest against unwarranted actions by government officials. Subsequent volumes will address the original intent of other amendments and articles within the founding documents of the United States.
    
To achieve this goal," Dr. Schaaf will explain to the nations librarians, Every letter and manuscript written by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and other founders are being researched and analyzed under standards set for scholarly investigations. Teams of editors deserve much of the credit, as well as the Internet, our most powerful new tool for searching historic documents."
    
The purpose of the study is to explain the underlying reasons for such issues as the separation of Church and State, freedom of speech, protections against illegal search and seizure, and other Constitutional questions relevant to cases brought before the U.S. Supreme Court. Educational curricula materials (K-12 and college level) also are being developed for free distribution through a non-profit website: www.usoriginalintent.org. On July 4, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights Series" will be announced in the New York Times Book Review and the New York Times Magazine.

CONTACT: Gregory Schaaf, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Indigenous Arts & Cultures
P.O. Box 8627
Santa Fe, NM 87504-8627
Phone: 505-473-5375; FAX: 505-424-1025
EMAIL: Indianbooks@comcast.net.

A digital image of the book cover and a PDF file of the book are available upon request.

ISBN 0966694899