Tench Coxe: A Detailed Breakdown of State vs. Federal Powers
By: Mike Maharrey Despite being little known today, Tench Coxe was an influential founding father, and in early 1788, he provided what was possibly the most comprehensive list of examples ...
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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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Tench Coxe Defends the Structure of the House of Representatives
By: Mike Maharrey Countering Anti-Federalist fears that Congress wouldn’t represent the diverse interests of the American population, Tench Coxe came out swinging, insisting that the House would be “the immediate ...
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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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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 meaning of “militia” in the Second Amendment
By: Rob Natelson This is the second article examining contributions to our understanding of the Constitution from the three brand new volumes of the Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution ...
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Tench Coxe and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
By: TJ Martinell Tench Coxe isn’t well-known today, but he was an influential figure in the founding era. Coxe advocated for the new Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and he ...
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Tench Coxe on State vs Federal Power under the Constitution
By: Mike Maharrey The federal government has no constitutional authority to do the vast majority of the things it does today. Of course, this truth runs counter to conventional wisdom and ...
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“Necessary” Is Not a Constitutional Argument
By: Mike Maharrey I hear a lot of bad constitutional arguments justifying this or that federal action. One common justification for expanding federal power is: “This thing is necessary! It ...
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