The Independent Guide to the Constitution: Original Intentions, Modern Inventions cuts through the partisan noise and helps readers reclaim the original, time-tested principles of liberty that America’s Framers worked so hard to protect.

The Constitution is one of the most studied—and most willfully misunderstood—documents in American life. Now more than ever, Americans need an objective, thorough, and clear-headed analysis of what our Founders meant when they wrote it … and perhaps even more importantly, what they didn’t mean. How should we confront the distortions layered onto the Constitution over generations—distortions that continue to shape, and misshape, American life today?

Enter William J. Watkins, Jr. Drawing on a lifetime of experience in the law—as prosecutor, defense attorney, and constitutional scholar—Watkins offers a bold, independent examination of the most important legal document in modern history. His book provides a meticulous, clause-by-clause analysis of America’s founding charter, revealing both the Framers’ original intentions and the modern interpretations that have reshaped constitutional governance—not always for the better. Clear and rigorous, he explores how the Constitution was designed to secure liberty and limit power—and how its meaning continues to spark debate today.

Expertly researched, fascinating, and urgent as ever, this book is indispensable for laymen and scholars alike to understand the Constitution.

William J. Watkins, Jr. is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and author of the book Crossroads for Liberty: Recovering the Anti-Federalist Values of America’s First Constitution. He received his B.A. in history and German summa cum laude from Clemson University and his J.D. cum laude from the University of South Carolina School of Law, and his LL.M. with merit from the University of London. Mr. Watkins is a former law clerk to Judge William B. Traxler, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and he is President of the Greenville, SC, Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. He has served as a prosecutor and defense lawyer, and has practiced in various state and federal courts.