Viewing George Ticknor Curtis, "History of the Origin, Formation, and Adoption of the Constitution of the United States" Volume 1 (1860).

George Ticknor Curtis, "History of the Origin, Formation, and Adoption of the Constitution of the United States" Volume 1 (1860).

In 1860, on the eve of the Civil War, George Ticknor Curtis (1812-1894), a lawyer, former Whig, ally of Daniel Webster and historian, published the first volume of a history of the United States Constitution. In a "Preface" he states his view of the Constitution:

"The Constitution of the United States is a living code, for the perpetuation of a system of free government, which the people of each succeeding generation must administer for themselves. Every line of it is as operative and as binding to-day as it was when the government was first set in motion by its provisions, and no part of it can fall into neglect or decay while that government continues to exist."

The second volume was published three years later.

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