The Great Compromise and the Struggle to Preserve State Sovereignty
By: Joe Wolverton, II The first weeks of July, 1787 were full of fiery speeches, threats of disunion, and tenuous compromises. In other words, just an ordinary time at the ...
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Tench Coxe: States and People as Checks on Federal Power
By: Mike Maharrey In his fourth essay of “An American Citizen,” Tench Coxe countered Anti-Federalist fears of federal tyranny by arguing that the Constitution’s structure kept the people and ...
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How the Supreme Court Rewrote the Constitution Part 7
By Rob Natelson Commentary This is the last installment in a series on the nadir, or low point, of the U.S. Supreme Court. This was the period from 1937 to 1944, ...
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How the Supreme Court Rewrote the Constitution – Part 4
By Rob Natelson Commentary The first, second, and third installments in this series explained that the Constitution created a small and frugal federal government. Those installments discussed how President Franklin ...
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Tench Coxe on the Senate: A Counter to Anti-Federalist Aristocracy Fears
By: Mike Maharrey The structure of the Senate was a serious point of contention for many Anti-Federalists, who warned it would quickly become a permanent or baneful aristocracy, with most senators serving for life. Tench ...
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Tench Coxe on the Executive Branch: President, not a King
By: Mike Maharrey American presidents behave almost like elected kings, exercising vast powers with very little accountability. But that wasn’t the plan. Tench Coxe was a key figure in ...
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Clearing Up the Confusion About the Constitution’s Term “Direct Taxes”
By: Rob Natelson The Supreme Court’s June 20 decision in Moore v. United States continues the long-standing controversy over the Constitution’s distinction between “direct” and “indirect” taxes. Writing for the Court, Justice ...
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How Tench Coxe Shaped the Ratification Debates: Essays of A Pennsylvanian
By: Mike Maharrey History often overlooks Tench Coxe, but he was one of the most important founding fathers. While the Federalist Papers are celebrated and widely discussed today, Coxe’s essays, written under ...
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The Supreme Court Was Wrong About Taxes
By: Rob Natelson Along with some good decisions, Supreme Court justices made some mistakes in the term just ended. One mistake involved taxes—and it is likely to bedevil the court ...
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Power From the People: The Revolutionary Roots of the 10th Amendment
By: Michael Boldin Thomas Jefferson called the 10th Amendment the “foundation of the Constitution,” and for good reason too. It enshrines many of the radical principles that sparked the ...
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