The Republic was not Kept: Benjamin Franklin’s Constitution Day Prediction
By: Michael Boldin “A republic … if you can keep it” September 17, 1787 – the day the constitution was signed. We all know Benjamin Franklin’s famous line. But he ...
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The Great Bypass: How the Constitution Was Built to Sideline the States
By: Michael Boldin “This Constitution does not attempt to coerce sovereign bodies, states, in their political capacity.” With that one sentence, future Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth identified the single most ...
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You don’t have “Constitutional Rights.” You have Rights
By: Mike Maharrey You do not have constitutional rights. You just have rights. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed ...
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The Ninth Amendment: Partner to the Tenth in Limiting Federal Power
By: Michael Boldin The Ninth Amendment. Most people don’t know what it says or means. Others just ignore it. Those who don’t, usually get it completely wrong. The Ninth isn’t ...
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Claiming Almost Everything is “Commerce”
By: Rob Natelson How can Congress get around the Tenth Amendment and regulate almost every aspect of American life? One way is by claiming that the Tenth Amendment doesn’t apply ...
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The 10th Amendment: The Foundation of the Constitution
by Michael Boldin AT A GLANCE • The government’s role is to protect natural rights, not to rule over citizens. Ultimate earthly authority rests with the people. • The ...
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John Taylor’s Forgotten Assault on Hamilton’s Economic Scheme
By: Michael Boldin In 1794, John Taylor of Caroline published a devastating critique of Alexander Hamilton’s financial system: the national bank, paper money, and debt. Taylor saw these for what ...
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Incidental Powers in the Constitution
By: Rob Natelson The Constitution is many things, but at its most basic level it is a document conveying enumerated powers from a principal (“We the People”) to identified agents. ...
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Five Constitutional Truths They Don’t Want You to Know
By: Michael Boldin “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.” Thomas Jefferson nailed it. And here’s the deal – ...
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James Madison’s Speech that Set the Stage for the Bill of Rights
By: TJ Martinell On June 8 1789, the “Father of the Constitution” James Madison rose on the floor of Congress to propose a series of significant amendments, setting the stage ...
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