All over the land earnest men and women are endeavoring to teach the great truths of Americanism, and with substantial success; but those who understand human nature realize that the faith of our fathers can only be firmly established by lighting the fires of patriotism and loyalty in the hearts of our children. Through them the great truths of our National life can be brought into the homes of the land. And the Nation will never be safe until the Constitution is carried into the homes, until at every fireside young and old shall feel a new sense of security in the guaranties which are found in this great charter of human liberty, and a new feeling of gratitude for the blessings which it assures to this, and to all future generations. ABOUT THE AUTHORS For a work designed to promote education in the spirit of American citizenship it would be difficult to imagine a more competent authorship than that which has been provided for “The Short Constitution”. Either of the writers alone would have produced a book of high standing in this field; the collaboration of the two makes it a remarkable production in its adaptation to the subject for home reading, the study club, and the school curriculum. It is unique, and has justly been termed “the first real attempt to popularize Constitutional law.” Federal Judge Martin J. Wade has had a varied contact with people in his long experience as practicing attorney, district judge, member of Congress, and Judge of the United States Court. A well known Iowa publicist, he has gained nation wide fame as a public speaker and writer on Americanization and citizenship topics, basing his themes on first-hand experiences with conditions which have produced much unrest throughout the Nation. As a member of the State Council of National Defense during the World War, and as presiding judge at the trial of many obstructionists in that period, he conceived the idea of the need for a school of Americanism, to teach what our country has done for its citizens. Clearness and eloquence mark his public addresses, and have enriched the arguments and illustrations of this first book of the “Elementary Americanism Series”.