Freedom Bowl

Watch a video our Freedom Bowls here.

Welcome! We hope you find enjoyment and satisfaction in your study of the founding of America! We are
so very glad you decided to pay the price to be a part of this very exciting experience—the Freedom Bowl.
You will be learning about the founding of America in an exciting format designed to help you retain this
information all of your life.

At this bowl your skill and knowledge will be tested against your peers. Truly, everyone wins because of the
knowledge you will gain and the love of your country you will feel will open your mind and your heart to
the blessings of living in a truly free nation.

As you study for these bowls you will learn by using one of the oldest teaching methods ever invented—
asking questions. This method of teaching is called a catechism, and it was used so extensively by the
famous Greek philosopher, Socrates, that it is often referred to as the “Socratic method of teaching”—
teaching by asking questions.

The first Catechism on the Constitution

Learning how to live in a free country where the people conduct their affairs by following certain rules of
self-government is a new invention. At least, the United States was the first nation to successfully put it into
operation on a large scale in modern times. Nevertheless, it is only effective if the people understand its
principles and diligently follow its procedures. Obviously, that is impossible unless the people have been
trained in those principles and the proper procedures explained. For that purpose, a famous little book was
published back in 1828 by Arthur J. Stansbury, called the Elementary Catechism of the Constitution of the
United States, and it contained 332 questions with basic answers every citizen should know.

Arthur J. Stansbury was born in New York City in 1781 (in the midst of the Revolutionary War), and died
around 1845. He graduated from Columbia University in 1799. For 20 years he was the official reporter
of the debates in Congress, and his reports were published in a 14-volume set entitled Register of Debates,
(Washington, 1825-1837). Because of his anxiety to help the next generation appreciate the importance
of America’s “great new experiment in self-government,” he wrote The Elementary Catechism of the
Constitution of the United States. It was designed specifically for the schools but was also read widely by
many adults who felt the need to know more about the mechanics of our system of self-government as
designed for a free American society. He also prepared a number of illustrated books especially written for
the training of children in good manners and character building.

Our Freedom Bowl manual is a catechism on the history of the founding of America and the systems of government
that have made America the freest nation in modern times. It contains many of the questions in Arthur
Standsbury’s famous little book, but it also has many more questions that will indoctrinate the reader to
the people, principles, and documents that have made America great!