HILLSDALE, Mich. — Hillsdale College has distributed a record-setting number of Pocket Constitutions as part of its mission to increase constitutional understanding and civic education across the country.
“We’ve seen the number of Pocket Constitution requests increase dramatically this year,” said Bill Gray, chief marketing officer and vice president for marketing. “We are encouraged that schools, legislators, parents, and people of all ages are taking advantage of this free resource.”
The Hillsdale College Pocket Constitution is a small booklet containing the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. These booklets are available for free via an online form or mailed request. The college first printed the Pocket Constitutions in 2011. This year, Hillsdale has sent more than three million Pocket Constitutions to schools, individuals, businesses, and legislators across the nation — a substantial increase from last year’s 863,000.
“I think the increased interest in America’s founding documents is a sign of the times,” Gray said. “People are seeing that schools are not educating the next generation on principles of liberty set forth in the Declaration and underlying the Constitution and are turning the Hillsdale to learn these principles for themselves via our online courses such as ‘Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution.’”
Schools around the country are able to request large orders of Pocket Constitutions for students. After learning about the U.S. Constitution, students at a Michigan elementary school, wrote letters to Hillsdale College to request Pocket Constitutions.
“This week we learned about the Constitution,” one student wrote. “I learned that it was written in 1787. Also, it protects our freedoms and our rights. In order to learn more, I would like to request a Pocket Constitution from Hillsdale College.”
In addition to sending pocket constitutions, Hillsdale College also provides educational resources such as free online courses on the Constitution, American history, the Federalist Papers, and more; a free K-12 American history and civics curriculum; and books such as “The U.S. Constitution: A Reader” and “Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story.”
As part of its educational outreach to American citizens on the history and importance of the U.S. Constitution, Hillsdale College has also sent packages of Pocket Constitutions and Constitution 101 DVDs to state and federal legislators’ offices.
View scans of the notes here.
View photos of students with their Pocket Constitutions here.
Order free Hillsdale Pocket Constitutions here.
To learn more about Hillsdale College’s free online courses here.