Biggs does not theorize from the sidelines. Since the book’s first release, he has served as Arizona Senate president, debated the issue nationwide, and been elected to Congress five times. That experience sharpened — not softened — his conclusion. Congress does not relinquish power. Federal agencies do not stand down. Courts do not remain neutral spectators. And states, despite patriotic rhetoric, have repeatedly authorized amendments that weakened the republic, including the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments. The history is clear and Bigg’s arguments are plain.

Chapter by chapter, Biggs dismantles the myths that keep the convention movement alive: the fantasy of a single clean fix, the belief that delegates can be bound, the claim that “the states will save us” in a convention, and the insistence that urgency excuses risk. He distinguishes policy tinkering from constitutional doctrine, exposes misdirection by well-meaning activists, and tracks how fear is leveraged to sell an irreversible act. The argument is not abstract. It is grounded in precedent, political behavior, and the predictable convergence of interests once the doors open.

The updated foreword confronts today’s climate directly. Post-Dobbs state actions, intensified federal weaponization, and cultural polarization make restraint harder — and more necessary. A convention held under these conditions would invite every unresolved conflict of the last half-century into a single arena, with no guarantee of adjournment and no mechanism for containment. The best outcome preserves the status quo. The worst rewrites the Constitution to ratify progressive doctrines that the Forefathers resisted.

This book is written for readers who refuse to be stampeded by propaganda or intimidated by accusations of cowardice. It insists that restoration does not require spectacle, and that fidelity to the Constitution is an act of discipline. Read it now, because the call for a convention always returns when fear is loud — and because some doors, once opened, do not close. (2025, 144pp, pb)

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Here are the materials that shaped early American constitutional practice: the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, Madison’s “Report of 1800,” Maria Pinckney’s A Political Catechism, Edmund Pendleton’s 1801 admonition in the Richmond Examiner, John Taylor of Caroline’s Constructions Construed, and Abel P. Upshur’s Brief Inquiry. Across them, the same architecture appears. Powers are delegated by the parties to the compact; undelegated powers remain with the states and the people. Jefferson articulates interposition against unconstitutional acts. Madison explains political remedies available to a free people through their states. Pinckney translates legal principles into civic instruction. Taylor tests fashionable constructions and rejects consolidation. Upshur demonstrates, step by step, that the Constitution is a grant from the states, a compact resting on their authority.

The volume is arranged for use by students and officials alike. Shorter pieces establish first principles; sustained treatments then apply those principles under pressure. Wolverton’s introduction maps the terrain, while the biographies provide quick bearings on each author’s role, alliances, controversies, and context. Thus readers can argue from sources, cite with confidence, then build competence over time and across cases.

Why now? Centralized administration reaches into county offices, classrooms, small businesses, and city halls. To answer that pressure with law rather than slogans, citizens and lawmakers need the Founders’ tools close at hand. By Compact, Not Command delivers those tools in a single, navigable volume — and invites you to bring them to your statehouse, your courthouse, your classroom, and your kitchen table.

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Wolverton documents Madison’s rigorous education, shaped by Scottish tutors and sharpened at Princeton under John Witherspoon, where he absorbed the lessons of Locke, Montesquieu, and Sidney. He traces how Madison poured that knowledge into the Virginia Plan, entered the Convention of 1787 with a blueprint for republican government, and wielded his pen to produce Federalist essays that still define constitutional thought. Madison’s alliance with Thomas Jefferson, his fight for the Bill of Rights, and his stand for religious liberty all emerge as decisive moments in the defense of freedom.

The book does not stop with Philadelphia. Wolverton examines Madison’s congressional service, his marriage to Dolley, his leadership during the War of 1812, and his retirement years at Montpelier. At each stage, Madison returned to a single conviction: only a republic bound by law and animated by virtue could preserve liberty for generations.

Today, as government power expands far beyond constitutional limits, The Miraculous Life and Legacy of James Madison offers both a warning and a guide. Patriots, students, and defenders of liberty will find in Madison not merely a subject of history, but a mentor for resistance against tyranny and a model for restoring the republic. (2025, 438pp)

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Wolverton dismantles the case for a convention with evidence pulled straight from the historical record. He shows how today’s activists recycle promises that collapse under scrutiny: claims that a new amendment will restrain corrupt politicians, balance budgets, or force accountability where none exists. Yet, as Wolverton demonstrates, these arguments are as empty as adding a line to wedding vows to prevent divorce. The problem is not the Constitution. The problem is vow breakers — politicians, judges, and bureaucrats who ignore the limits already written and the oaths they already swore.

Drawing on the warnings of Montesquieu and the counsel of Madison, Wolverton reminds readers that power always seeks expansion, and paper barriers are worthless unless backed by vigilance and enforcement. That vigilance is possible only through federalism, the Tenth Amendment, and the courage of states and citizens to resist encroachments. Adding new clauses or calling risky conventions, he argues, is not only futile but reckless — the cure worse than the disease.

This book is both a primer and a call to action. It equips legislators wrestling with convention proposals, patriots guarding constitutional checks, and skeptics on the fence. With sharp analogies, fresh analysis, and undeniable facts, Wolverton restores perspective: America’s Constitution is not the problem. Abandoning it for experiments in revision is. The rightful remedy has been here all along. (2024ed, 104pp, pb)

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Joe Wolverton, II, J.D., distills these classic works into an approachable “tasting menu,” pairing each selection with lined pages so readers can follow the Founders’ own practice of keeping a commonplace book. This simple discipline — read, ponder, record, and recall — anchors insights in memory and nurtures habits of reflection and virtue. It’s a method Wolverton has proven over 25 years of teaching, and one that continues to shape students long after the course ends.

More than a survey of ideas, this book is a call to restoration. The Founders Recipe is not about patching the Constitution with modern fixes but about restoring it with the same timeless sources that built it. Perfect for homeschool families, civic study groups, or lifelong learners, it equips a new generation to savor the wisdom of liberty and carry it forward.(2020, 330pp)

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The Declaration speaks in the language of creation, equality, and consent. It names abuses, then declares the remedy: withdraw allegiance and form governments “most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” That claim did not age out. It sets a yardstick for evaluating any policy that burdens speech, arms, worship, property, or due process. When officials answer critique with force instead of reason, readers will recognize the pattern because they have seen the list before.

The Constitution turns principle into architecture. Powers are enumerated; offices are separated; elections, oaths, juries, and federalism create friction against ambition. Article by article, it assigns authority, limits it by text, and provides lawful tools for change — representation, legislation, courts, and amendments. The first ten amendments fasten certain protections beyond ordinary politics, so that a momentary majority cannot erase the people’s reserved rights.

Use this pocket size edition in meetings, classes, kitchen-table debates, or council hearings. However you approach it, read with a pen. Mark the phrases that matter — “We the People,” “no law,” “free State,” “due process.” Then compare the words to the news of the week. Where officials govern by emergency, rule by decree, expand power by redefining terms, or sidestep the amendment process, you will have the texts to sort claim from authority.

Return to first things. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are not relics; they are criteria. Study them, discuss them, and then insist — boldly and bravely — that public servants return to their limited commission, so liberty can be preserved for posterity. (2024ed, 50pp, pb)

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Thompson walks readers through the principles that secured liberty: local police accountable to their communities, a bicameral Congress that restrains ambition, a republic instead of mob rule, and the Bill of Rights as an immovable barrier. He ties each safeguard to history — Committees of Correspondence organizing resistance, farmers on Lexington Green holding the line — and shows how these patterns of self-government became habits that endured.

But he also unmasks the counter-design: Marxist infiltration in the Western Hemisphere, regional power blocs, and the steady hollowing of institutions until they collapse into centralization. The battle is not abstract. It is unfolding now, where morality is undermined, law is manipulated, and sovereignty is traded away piece by piece.

For pastors urging their congregations, educators shaping the next generation, and officials or activists determined to hold the line, this book supplies a blueprint. It tells you what must be defended, why it matters, and how restoration begins — not in Washington, but in your county and state. (2023ed, 132pp)

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The collection moves from the need for union to the mechanics of federalism and separated powers. Key essays anchor the discussion: No. 10 on faction and the extended republic; No. 46 shows how loyalty, structure, and local institutions check national overreach; No. 51 on checks, balances, and the logic of ambition; No. 70 on energy in the executive; No. 78 on the judiciary’s independence and judgment. Across the series, Publius tackles taxation, commerce, war and peace, the militia, treaties, and the character of republican representation — always pressing practical consequences, not abstractions for their own sake. Because the essays were written for citizens, the argument unfolds in steps, with definitions, examples, and tests readers can track.

Pairing this volume with How to Read the Federalist turns a founding classic into a working guide. The companion shows how to approach each paper so students, faculty, homeschool tutors, and independent researchers can move from quotation to comprehension to use. It helps readers pace a seminar, lead a study circle, or prepare a brief, always keeping text, context, and purpose in view.

For classrooms, reading groups, and serious self-study, The Federalist offers access to the framers’ reasoning at full scale. Courts and scholars still cite these essays because they frame disputes in constitutional terms that endure—federal versus consolidated power, liberty versus license, prudence versus zeal. Bring both volumes to the table, read with a pencil, and test each claim against the Constitution itself. Do that, and Publius becomes not only a source to quote, but a teacher you can follow. (2023ed, 454pp, pb)

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Within its 72 pages you’ll find brief historical cues that place essays in the ratification struggle; explanations that track how a paragraph advances the case; a concise glossary to steady unfamiliar terms; and a short path to further reading that points to reliable editions and reference works. It also trains durable habits: separate assertion from evidence, notice when a definition does the heavy lifting, and keep the Constitution in view as the governing standard. These habits make quotation useful because the reader understands what the passage actually does in the argument.

Teachers and study leaders can scale the approach. Use it to plan a week’s lessons, run a community reading night, or brief colleagues before a moot court. Side by side with The Federalist, How to Read the Federalist turns a classic into a workable course—one that rewards pencil-in-hand reading and discussion that stays tethered to text and context.

If your aim is to understand The Federalist and help others do the same, keep both volumes within reach. The Federalist supplies the primary record; How to Read the Federalist keeps the reading honest, organized, and teachable. 2023ed, 72pp, pb)

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Beginning with the Founders, Wolverton distinguishes creator and creature and re-establishes the Constitution as a compact among sovereign states. He then applies contract law to test contested federal measures. The analysis moves quickly into practice: noncooperation by state officers; formal interposition by legislatures; county-level refusal to assist federal enforcement; and coordination among adjoining states that presents obstacles Washington would hesitate to confront. Throughout, sources stay close to the Founders — the Principles of 1798, Madison’s Report of 1800, and John Taylor of Caroline’s Construction Construed and Constitutions Vindicated.

Case chapters make the methods concrete. Wolverton examines indefinite detention under the National Defense Authorization Act, the insurance mandates grouped under “Obamacare,” warrantless data sweeps by the surveillance apparatus, and federal limits on the right to keep and bear arms. He also revisits immigration versus naturalization and explains how the Seventeenth Amendment severed the states from the Senate, weakening the structural check the framers expected.

This book serves state legislators intent on honoring their oath; attorneys and litigators who know courts are only one venue among many; grassroots organizers building county-to-county networks; and teachers and citizens who want usable language grounded in sources. Read What Degree of Madness as a manual for action — concise enough to use, grounded enough to defend. The aim is steady: restore federalism in practice. Follow Madison’s plans of resistance, revive state sovereignty, and Make America STATES Again — by forcing the federal apparatus back within its constitutional limits.

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