This book evolved as part of the Comparative & International Law Program at the Columbus School of Law, Catholic Univ. of Amer., which sponsors studies on the expansion of constitutionalism around the world. Sparked by the bicentennial celebrations of the framing of the U.S. Constitution (Const.) & the first Polish & French Const., this study focuses on the beginning of the const"l. era. The intent is not merely to narrate each country"s const"l. history but to identify the factors that both assisted & impeded const"l. develop. in the three countries. Appendices: the texts of the Const. of the U.S.A.; Declaration of the Rights of Man & Citizen; the Const. of 1791 & 1793; the French Const. of the Years III & VIII; & Const. of Poland, 1791 & 1921.