Insights into the Constitution from English Social History
By: Rob Natelson If you want to understand the Constitution, you should know something of the social context that produced it. Very useful for this purpose are the chapters on ...
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The Day the Philadelphia Convention Narrowly Avoided Permanent Adjournment
By: Joe Wolverton, II “Something must be done, or we shall disappoint not only America, but the whole world…. We must make concessions on both sides. Without these, the constitutions ...
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A Positive Feedback Loop of Power-Grabbing
By: Rudolph Kohn The classical liberal philosophy expounded by John Locke and many of the American founders was a brilliant attempt to abolish government by the principle of “might ...
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Limited or Absolute Power: Warnings from Anti-Federalist Agrippa
By: TJ Martinell The Anti-Federalist writer Agrippa powerfully expressed many of the same reservations about the Constitution as other opponents – that it would create a consolidated government leading ...
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Mercy Otis Warren: Constitution Would “Terminate in the Most Uncontrolled Despotism”
By: TJ Martinell Mercy Otis Warren came down firmly opposed to ratification of the Constitution, and her anonymously written pamphlet titled “Observations on the new Constitution, and on the Federal ...
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No Emergency Powers in the Constitution
By: Jacob Hornberger It has become an article of faith that under our system of government, federal officials can declare an emergency, which then purportedly authorizes federal officials to exercise ...
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The Real Enforcement Mechanism for the Constitution
By: Michael Boldin Almost everything people learn about how the Constitution is supposed to be enforced is wrong. As a result, we live under the largest government in history, and ...
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Beyond the Text: Understanding the Constitution’s Original Meaning
By: Mike Maharrey How do we learn the original meaning of the Constitution? A lot of people will say, “Just read it.” That’s an essential first step, but it’s not quite ...
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John Adams: Patriot and Tyrant?
By: Mike Maharrey Many revere John Adams as a great patriot. Others view him as a big-government tyrant. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. Adams was a prominent leader during ...
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A Republic. But They Didn’t Keep it
By: Michael Boldin A Republic, if you can keep it. We’ve all heard this phrase – it’s almost legendary. People have used it in campaigns, slogans, as a book title, in ...
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