The U.S. Constitution is the literally the basis of The United States of America and how our government works.

During the last presidential campaign, and in many an Internet debate, the Constitution and what it means is tossed around like it’s a hand grenade and not an actual document.

This week the Daughters of the American Revolution are asking people to not just talk about the Constitution but to read it, to study it and to study the history surrounding the creation of such an important document.

The DAR’s aim is threefold: To “Emphasize citizens’ responsibilities for protecting and defending the Constitution, inform people that the Constitution is the basis for America’s great heritage and the foundation for our way of life and encourage the study of the historical events which led to the framing of the Constitution in September 1787.”

These are all noble and good things that people should actually try to do, rather than just repeating what we hear on television or read on some website.

Founding Father Thomas Jefferson said, “It is every Americans’ right and obligation to read and interpret the Constitution for himself.”

Jefferson was not in America when the Constitution was written in 1778, but he was a mentor to James Madison, who is recognized as one of the major forces behind the Constitutional Convention and was in regular correspondence with the men who worked on the document.

It was Jefferson who pushed for many of the things that all Americans hold in high regard such as the Bill of Rights, freedom of the press and freedom of religion. He also pushed to give the courts the power to make sure that Congress and the President didn’t pass laws that infringed on American’s civil liberties.

So, this week we should all take a bit of time to re-read, and study, the document that makes us free.