The Constitution Made Simple

What Every Responsible Citizen Must Know to Defend Freedom

Online Seminar
Thursday Evenings, February 4 – May 27, 2010

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Why Attend this Seminar?

America is in grave danger of losing her freedom.

Institutions we’ve depended on are crumbling, our core principles of government are dissolving. Bitter partisan politics split our nation, and the entrenched powers on both sides seem to care about little more than maintaining control.

More than anything, few citizens have even a basic understanding of the Constitution — the primary foundation and support of our freedom.

If America is to survive, her Constitution must be resurrected. Enough citizens must know the specific clauses of the constitution and understand how they interact in real-life situations. We must understand the foundations of our constitutional structure. We must be able to articulate specific principles that accurately describe our system and our rights and duties.

That is the purpose of this course.

This course arms you with a formidable arsenal of specific principles to defend and promote the principles of liberty.

Mentor James Ure, Esq. will teach you the foundations and structure of the Constitution, as well as your rights and duties in relation to the document. You’ll finish the course more enlightened and empowered than ever before to move the cause of liberty.

Together, we really can shape the course and fabric of America.

Seminar Overview

Format
This seminar is divided into four month-long sections. Each section is comprised of four classes, one per week, which are held online every Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. MST.

Classes are held online using Elluminate, a highly-interactive online learning platform. Students are able to see the mentor through streaming video, ask the mentor questions, and discuss with each other. Watch this brief orientation to learn more.

Topics
The seminar explores the foundation and structure of the U.S. constitution, and details the rights and duties of republican citizens (see Seminar Details below). The texts for the course include The 5,000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen, the U.S. Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence, which must be purchased before classes begin. The estimated preparation time for each class is 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how fast you read.

Cost & Registration

The course mentor, James Ure, is used to teaching at George Wythe University, where students pay up to $3,450 per semester.

However, the Center for Social Leadership negotiated an initial price of $99 per month for this four-month seminar.

But since it’s such a long seminar, we decided to make it just $49.95 per month for those who make the full four-month commitment. Students are billed monthly.

The Center for Social Leadership only has 50 tickets available to the seminar, so you need to act fast.

Refund Guarantee

This seminar comes with a full, no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee. If you don’t feel the course was worth the price, just let us know and we’ll promptly refund your money. However, this offer is only valid until one week after the course has ended (June 3rd).

Mentor Bio

jamesure The Constitution Made SimpleJames C. Ure, Esq. is a mentor of Constitutional Case Law at George Wythe University and the owner and headmaster of Williamsburg Academy, an accredited, private, online high school with an emphasis in leadership, classical works and the outdoors.

James received his B.A. in English from Brigham Young University and graduated magna cum laude from South Texas College of Law. In law school, James served as President of the Federalist Society, the J. Reuben Clark Law Society and hosted speeches or debates with prominent judges and professors from around the country. He also served on the South Texas Law Review, which published an article of his on the structure and powers of the U.S. Constitution.

He has been a small business owner, clerked for a Texas state court judge and a law firm, and served as an intern in the Utah House of Representatives for the majority whip. He is married to the former Angela Stott. They have three children and reside in Cedar City, Utah.

Seminar Details

This seminar is divided into four month-long sections. Each section is comprised of four classes, one per week, which are held online every Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. MST.

February: The Foundation
The strength of any foundation will determine the size of the building that can be built thereon. Fortunately, our Constitution is built on a very solid foundation. However, modern education largely neglects this foundation.

This section details the role of God and religion, inalienable rights, natural law, and the ideas of mixed government and a written constitution in our constitutional framework.

March: The Structure
Our government’s power structure is channeled into two molds: Vertical Powers and Horizontal Powers.

Vertical Powers include everything from basic self and family government all the way up to the federal government. Horizontal powers consider the three main branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. To understand the structure, one must appreciate the inner-workings of each of these molds in detail and see how they interact together.

April: The Rights
While the Structure focuses on the flow of governmental power, the Rights section focuses on the powers retained by the people and the states.

This section explores the individual’s rights of religion, speech, arms, property, privacy, procedural and substantive due process, and other non-enumerated rights, as well as states’ rights.

May: The Responsibilities
As Victor Frankl put it, “Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is [responsibility].” Frankl recommended “that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast . . . be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.”

When asked what type of government the Founders had created, Benjamin Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.” We have unique responsibilities as citizens of a republic, which have been spoken of by the Founders, Alexis de Toqueville, Montesquieu and others, and you’ll learn them all in this section.

Texts & Materials

The text for this seminar include The Five Thousand Year Leap by Cleon Skousen, the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Students must purchase these texts before the class begins.

Students should do the listed readings on the syllabus (see above) before each class begins. Estimated reading time for each class is 30-60 minutes, depending on reader’s speed. No other preparation is necessary.

Students need a high-speed Internet connection and a headset with a noise-canceling/echo-reducing microphone that attaches to your computer, such as this one.

Online Learning Platform

elluminate The Constitution Made SimpleOur classes are held in a live, highly-interactive virtual classroom provided through Elluminate, which facilitates both lecture and group discussion formats and supports both PC and Mac operating systems. Please watch the 5-minute Elluminate Orientation before class begins.

The first portion of each class will be presentation by the mentor and the second part will be interactive class discussion, followed by Q & A.

Students need a high-speed Internet connection and a headset with a noise-canceling/echo-reducing microphone that attaches to your computer, such as this one. If you have a stand-alone or built-in microphone, do not plan on using it. They create an echo for everyone in the class and are almost impossible to listen to.

Be sure to test your headset out with your computer before the first class period. Without a headset you may still participate by typing questions/comments in the chat box and observing class, but you won’t be able to participate orally.