Entries by Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie

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A Memorial Day Message From Our Founder

On this Memorial Day weekend, I think it is appropriate to truly contemplate and think about the soldiers and families who have sacrificed their lives and loved ones, and given their time and dedication to our country.
Sometimes it is beyond reach to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and feel, to the most heightened sense, what it would be like to say goodbye to our loved ones for perhaps the last time. Do we take the time to feel empathy for the soldier who has to walk away from his family – mother, father, wife, husband, daughter, son – to be potentially killed out in the field – to die away from family – in perhaps some distant land, in enemy territory, on foreign soil?

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Happy Independence Day! Read The Declaration of Independence with your family and friends!

Happy Independence Day! Read The Declaration of Independence with your family and friends!

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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How The Supreme Court Constitutes America – Guest Essayist: William Morrisey

In defending the establishment of the United States Supreme Court, Alexander Hamilton maintained that the absence of an independent judicial power had handicapped the government established by the Articles of Confederation. The way the Articles government had been structured made the rule of law–even the modest legislation enacted by Congress–more or less impossible.

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Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church And School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2012) (Part 2) – Guest Essayist: John O. Tyler

Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC (2012): Protecting Religious Liberty in American Schools In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2012), the federal government tried to force a church, against its will, to hire a minister to teach in the church’s school. The US Supreme Court held that the […]

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Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church And School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2012) – Guest Essayist: Gennie Westbrook

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” The Supreme Court has interpreted this prohibition to mean that state action that imposes restriction on the free exercise of religion is permitted only when there is a “compelling state […]

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Justice Anthony Kennedy (Born 1936) – Guest Essayist: Tony Williams

Republican President Dwight Eisenhower reputedly said that appointing Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice William Brennan were among his biggest mistakes as president as they helped usher in a wave of liberal jurisprudence at odds with Eisenhower’s conservative philosophy.  Republican President George H.W. Bush might have said the same about Justice David Souter for the […]

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Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) – Guest Essayist: Joerg Knipprath

In 2011, the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA). A California law prohibited the sale of violent video games to minors and required labelling of content and designation of suitable users. Parents would still have the choice to buy video games deemed violent and give them to their children. The law was […]

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Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (2008) – Guest Essayist: State Representative David Eastman

Does the Constitution Give Americans the Right to Vote Without Photo Identification? In 2005, the State of Indiana passed a state law requiring that most Indiana voters who voted on Election Day would have to show government-issued photo ID before voting. The law provided an exception for those who lived in senior centers, and provided […]

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Bush v. Gore (2000) And Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board (2000) – Guest Essayist: James D. Best

The 2000 presidential election came down to who won Florida. Twenty-seven days after the election, the presidency remained undecided. Surrogates for George W. Bush and Al Gore clashed in a close-quarters fight that seemed to have no end.  Both parties persisted and refused to yield. The media filled nearly every broadcast moment and column inch […]

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McDonald v. Chicago (2010) – Guest Essayist: David Raney

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 McDonald v. Chicago case considered whether the Second Amendment’s protection of the individual right to possess and use privately-owned firearms as affirmed in the Court’s 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller decision also applies to state and local governments.

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District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) (Part 2) – Guest Essayist: David Raney

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller case considered whether the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual right to possess and use privately-owned firearms.

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District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) – Guest Essayist: James D. Best

District of Columbia v. Heller provided clarity to a long and quarrelsome debate about the application of the Second Amendment. The crux of the case was whether the right to “keep and bear arms” was an individual right or a collective right associated with regulated militias. The Supreme Court (5-4) ruled the Second Amendment an […]

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Gonzales v. Carhart (2007) – Guest Essayist: Steven H. Aden

Vote: (5 to 4) Majority: Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito. Dissenters: Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer. Gonzales v. Carhart is one of those rare cases that highlights the difference an election can make to Supreme Court decision-making. While the Justices of the Supreme Court are (arguably) largely immune from political pressure because they serve for […]

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Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) And Worcester v. Georgia (1832) – Guest Essayist: John Vinzant

In 1827, the state of Georgia passed several acts that affected the Cherokee Nation within Georgia’s borders.  Georgia extended criminal jurisdiction over crimes committed by Cherokees within the Cherokee Nation.  Traditionally and legally, the Cherokee had their own criminal jurisdiction.  The Georgia legislature also declared the Cherokees had no legal title to the land that […]

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Justice Antonin Scalia (1936-2016)

During the Senate hearings on his nomination to the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch commented, “Justice [Antonin] Scalia’s legacy will live on a lot longer than mine.” Whether or not this is a prophetic remark is too early to tell. However, Judge Gorsuch’s statement recognizes the enormous impact that Scalia has had–and will have–on American […]

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Lawrence v. Texas (2003), United States v. Windsor (2013) And Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Lawrence v. Texas (2003), United States v. Windsor (2013) and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015): The June 26th SCOTUS Trifecta by Justice Anthony Kennedy On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States held a special Friday session the week before end of term to announce its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the Court […]

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Roe v. Wade (1973) And Planned Parenthood Of Southeastern PA v. Casey (1992)

Before the 1960s, all states had stringent laws banning abortions.  The women’s movement of the 1960s demanded access to abortion as one of the rights of women. Abortion rights activists began working at liberalizing state laws on abortion since it was a state issue in the federal system.  The advocacy successfully chipped away at several […]

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Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

In June, 1961, the Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of an 1879 Connecticut law that prohibited the use of contraceptive devices for the purpose of preventing pregnancy, as well as the counseling of such use. The law applied to married and unmarried couples. However, the law had apparently only been enforced once, […]

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Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. (1906-1997)

Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. (1906-1997): An Associate Justice Who Led the Court and Which is Often Referred to as The Brennan Court On July 20, 1990, Associate Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. resigned from the Supreme Court of the United States, after serving nearly 34 years (including three months with a recess appointment and […]

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New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

A group of well-known civil rights leaders ran a full-page advertisement, “Heed Their Rising Voices,” in the New York Times on March 29, 1960. The ad described an “unprecedented wave of terror” in police attacks and other government sponsored oppression against peaceful demonstrators in Montgomery and other southern cities. The ad closed with a plea […]

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Justice Hugo Black (1886-1971)

Hugo Black (1886-1971): The Justice with the Plain Meaning Approach Hugo Black served more than thirty-four years on the Supreme Court, the fifth longest tenure in the Court’s history.  During his time on the Court, Black developed a reputation as a justice who strongly believed the United States Constitution was to be given its plain […]

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Dennis v. United States (1951)

Is Advocating the Violent Overthrow of the United States a First Amendment Right? On June 22nd 1940, France surrendered to Germany, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Smith Act the very same day. It was believed that the rapid fall of France was due in no small part to subversion by communists allied […]

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Chief Justice William Howard Taft (1857-1930)

Chief Justice William Howard Taft (1857-1930): The Only Former President to Serve on the Supreme Court of the United States When Chief Justice Edward White died in May 1910, President Warren G. Harding immediately turned to former President William Howard Taft, who had appointed White to the Supreme Court, to succeed White.  Taft served on […]

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Gitlow v. New York (1925) And Bradenburg v. Ohio (1969) (Part 2)

Benjamin Gitlow and Clarence Brandenburg would seem to have had little in common, but each was responsible for bringing a case that resulted in an important revolution in interpreting the meaning of free speech.

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Gitlow v. New York (1925) And Bradenburg v. Ohio (1969)

The late 19th and early 20th Centuries saw the passage of a number of state and federal laws allowing prosecutions for political speech that advocated or implied violence against government. In 1917 and 1918, for example, Congress passed the Espionage Act, the first major federal law against seditious speech since the Sedition Act of 1798.

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Engel v. Vitale (1962) And Everson v. Ewing (1962) (Part 2)

“Almighty God, we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country:” Engel v. Vitale (1962) In the Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township (1947), the Supreme Court decided that it was constitutional for the state of New Jersey to reimburse parents for the cost of bus transportation, even to […]

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Engel v. Vitale (1962) And Everson v. Ewing (1962)

In Engel v. Vitale (370 U.S. 421 [1962]), the Supreme Court took up the question of school prayer and rejected as unconstitutional the New York state practice of beginning each school day with the recitation of the Regent’s Prayer.  It was the first of a series of decisions regarding public prayer that included rejecting recitation […]

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Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935)

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935): The Oldest Justice at Retirement from the Supreme Court I, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., after serving as a Massachusetts Supreme Court judge for twenty years, was nominated to a vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States and served for almost thirty years on the highest court […]

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Abrams v. United States (1919)

“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ….” Though there is some debate over its original meaning, the First Amendment is commonly thought to have prohibited administrative prior restraint on public speaking or writing. Still, a speaker or publisher was responsible for the consequences of his words. If the […]

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Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. (1989)

“A Puzzle Inside an Enigma: Untangling Affirmative Action” In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), the Supreme Court invalidated fixed quota systems for affirmative action as a remedy for historic racism, but decided that using race as a factor in college admissions was constitutional. It was a confusing decision with a 4-4-1 […]

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Griggs v. Duke Power (1971), California v. Bakke (1978), USWA v. Weber (1979), Fullilove v. Klutznick (1980)

The 1950s and 1960s saw significant gains for civil rights of African Americans. In the 1950s, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered public schools desegregated and the non-violent civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. kept the continuing disadvantages faced by African Americans in the public eye. In the 1960s, federal laws protecting […]

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Chief Justice Earl Warren (1891-1974)

Earl Warren: The Governor from California Becomes The 14th Chief Justice Nine chief justices and nearly 120 years separate John Marshall from Earl Warren.  While each chief has influenced the Supreme Court and helped to shape its history, Warren and Marshall are often mentioned together as the greatest of the 17 chiefs.  This column explores […]

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Bolling v. Sharpe (1954) And Brown v. Topeka Board Of Education (1954) And Cooper v. Aaron (1958)

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) In December 1952, African-American lawyer Thurgood Marshall appeared before the Supreme Court representing a seven-year-old black girl from Topeka, Kansas named Linda Brown who had to ride the bus to her segregated black school instead of walking to the neighborhood school.  Marshall and other NAACP Legal Defense […]

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United States v. Carolene Products Co. (1938) (Part 2)

United States v. Carolene Products Co. 304 U. S. 144 (1938) This case belongs to a string of cases dating from the late nineteenth century involving substitute or imitation dairy products. Carolene Products arose from a controversy over “Milnut,” a beverage made from mixing skimmed milk with another product that is not milk fat (usually […]

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United States v. Carolene Products Co. (1938)

United States v. Carolene Products Co. 304 U. S. 144 (1938) If you concede the constitutionality of the administrative state, where does that leave citizens’ liberties? That is, if you claim(some might say pretend) that the United States Constitution authorizes unelected, tenured officials the power to frame, enforce, and adjudicate laws you grant a privilege […]

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Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. (1968)

In the Civil Rights Cases of 1883, the Supreme Court had ruled 8-1 that the Civil Rights Act of 1875, outlawing racial discrimination in most public places, was unconstitutional. The owners of businesses such as railroads, theatres, and hotels could impose segregation in their facilities, or they could refuse to serve African Americans altogether. The […]

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The Insular Cases (1901)

A large mural in the Capitol Building in Washington is titled “Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way.” It was painted by Emanuel Leutze in 1861 as a representation of Manifest Destiny, the optimistic world view of 19th century Americans that the country inevitably would be settled from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. […]

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Justice John Marshall Harlan (1833-1911)

John Marshall Harlan: The Great Dissenter John Marshall Harlan served more than thirty-three years on the Supreme Court, the sixth longest term in the Court’s history.  During his long tenure, Harlan became known as “The Great Dissenter,” signing more than 300 dissenting opinions from 1877-1911.  Harlan’s grandson, John Marshall Harlan II, would later also serve […]

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Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

In 1890, Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act which required railroads to provide separate accommodations, including separate cars, for blacks and whites.  A group of Creoles and blacks in New Orleans formed a committee, the Citizens’ Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law, to challenge this law.  Homer Plessy, whose light-colored skin […]

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Civil Rights Cases (1883)

The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865, outlawed slavery throughout the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, defined citizenship and prohibited the states from violating equal protection and due process of law for all persons. During Reconstruction following the Civil War, states of the former Confederate States of America were […]

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Justice Stephen J. Field (1816-1899)

It is an understatement to describe Stephen Johnson Field as a giant among Supreme Court justices. He served more than 34 years on the Court, longer than any but Justice William Douglas. He authored 544 opinions, exceeded only by Justice Samuel Miller. He and his fellow justices during the 1880s, including Miller, Joseph Bradley, and […]

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The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)

Presiding over a trial in the federal Circuit Court in Corfield v. Coryell (1825) to recover a seized vessel, Supreme Court Justice Bushrod Washington took the occasion to ponder the expansive scope of the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV of the Constitution. Because the clause is to facilitate interstate comity and harmony, it […]

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Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (1777-1864) (Part 2)

Roger B. Taney was born and raised on a southern Maryland tobacco plantation.  He attended Dickinson College and received a classical education before reading law under Jeremiah Chase, one of three judges on the state’s General Court.  He passed the bar exam and married the sister of his close friend, Francis Scott Key.  He entered […]

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Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (1777-1864)

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice, served thirty-four-and-a half years in that role. Roger B. Taney, who succeeded Marshall, served for twenty-eight-and-a- half years, including during almost the entirety of the Civil War. (Marshall and Taney are, respectively, the first- and second- longest serving Chief Justices.)

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Ex Parte Merryman (1861)

On April 27, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln took one of the most dramatic steps ever taken by an American chief executive, and suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. He did so, under a provision in Article 1, section 9 of the Constitution: The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not […]

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Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) (Part 2)

Arrogance & Injustice in the Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) Case In the 1850s, the United States was deeply divided over the issue of slavery and its expansion into the West. The northern and southern sections of the country had been arguing over the expansion of slavery into the western territories for decades. The Missouri […]

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Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Dred Scott was born into slavery in Virginia around 1799, but was moved to Missouri where he was sold to Dr. John Emerson, an army surgeon.  Given Dr. Emerson’s military career, he moved frequently and took Scott with him.  Eventually, Dr. Emerson moved with Scott to the State of Illinois and the Territory of Wisconsin, […]

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Furman v. Georgia (1972)

Is the Death Penalty Cruel and Unusual Punishment? Furman v. Georgia was another 5-4 decision by the United States Supreme Court; meaning, that if any one of the nine justices on the Supreme Court had changed their mind, the result would have been very different. The case dealt with three men who had been convicted […]

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Palko v. Connecticut (1937)

Palko v. Connecticut resulted from the appeal of a capital murder conviction. Palko was charged with killing a police officer during the commission of an armed robbery. Although he was charged with first degree murder, he was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. The state of Connecticut appealed the sentence, […]

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Meyer v. Nebraska (1923) And Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)

In The Republic, Plato designed his ideal society as one in which the wives and children of the Guardians (the ruling elite) would be held in common. This would prevent the corrosive societal effects of nepotism that result when parents raise their children and, due to their natural affinity, seek to secure wealth and status […]

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Chicago, Milwaukee And St. Paul Railroad v. Minnesota (1890)

 Chicago, Milwaukee and St, Paul Railroad v. Minnesota, 134 U.S. 418 (1890) became a landmark case in establishing a new direction for government regulation of business, though that new direction gave way to the coming of the New Deal. Prior to the Chicago, Milwaukee decision, courts had pretty much deferred to legislatures in deciding […]

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Ex Parte Vallandigham (1864) And Ex Parte Milligan (1866)

Article 1 Section 9, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution enshrines the “Great Writ,” a protection against arbitrary imprisonment that dates back at least to the Magna Carta of 1215: “The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require […]

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Pollock v. Farmer’s Loan And Trust Co. (1895)

Pollock v. Farmer’s Loan & Trust Company, 158 U. S. 601 (1895), arose when a stockholder of the company sued to prevent the company from voluntarily paying a tax on its profits. The tax had been assessed pursuant to an act of Congress that levied a tax of two percent per year on incomes over […]

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The Legal Tender Cases (1870)

The legal tender controversy involved Supreme Court decisions that spanned a decade and a half beginning in 1870 with Hepburn v. Griswold 75 U.S. 603 (1870), in which the Legal Tender Act of 1862, 12 Stat. 345, making United States Treasury notes legal tender, was invalidated on constitutional grounds.  In Hepburn, Chief Justice Salmon P. […]

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Sturges v. Crowninshield (1819) and Ogden v. Saunders (1827)

Bankruptcy Power – Sturges v. Crowninshield, 17 U.S. 122 (1819) and Ogden v. Saunders, 25 U.S. 213 (1827) Shortly after the first person mixed her labor with a thing and called it “mine,” some person furnished property to another, together with an obligation to return it. With that, the problems of debtor and creditor were […]

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Justice Mahlon Pitney (1858-1924)

Mahlon Pitney was appointed to the United States Supreme Court by President William H. Taft in 1912, and served there for ten and one-half years until his retirement in December, 1922.  He is generally regarded as a footnote in the annals of American Supreme Court justices.  But for the ten years that he was on […]

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Coppage v. Kansas (1915)

During what Mark Twain called the Gilded Age at the end of the nineteenth century, American commerce grew exponentially and the American economy became the largest in the world. Wealthy industrialists organized their businesses to maximize efficiency and profits, contributing to an increase in buying power for all segments of American society and drawing millions […]

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Adair v. United States (1908)

Can Congress Discriminate Against Non-Union Members? In 1898, Congress passed the Erdman Act, making it a crime to fire an employee for belonging to a union. Because the Constitution does not expressly give the federal government the power to regulate employment, Congress limited the law to apply only to employees involved in interstate commerce, thereby […]

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Lochner v. New York (1905)

Making up Rights?: Lochner v. New York (1905) In April 1901, Utica, New York bakeshop owner, Joseph Lochner, was arrested for allowing one of his few employees, baker Aman Schmitter, to work more than sixty hours in a week. A grand jury indicted Lochner for violating a New York bakeshop law regulating work hours. In […]

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Holden v. Hardy (1898)

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the industrial revolution transformed the American landscape, culture, economy, and relationships between workers and management. The transformation brought significant gains in prosperity for both workers and management, but it also meant laborers worked long hours in dangerous conditions in factories and mines. Workdays of ten to twelve […]

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Justice David J. Brewer (1837-1910)

David J. Brewer: Foreign Born Justice Who Sat with His Uncle David J. Brewer was born on June 20, 1837, in Smyrna, Asia Minor (today Turkey), the fourth of six Supreme Court Justices born outside the United States.  Brewer sat on the Court with his uncle, Stephen J. Field, to date the only relatives to […]

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In re Debs (1895)

Obstruction of Commerce & the Mail “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night (nor Pullman Strike) stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”   This (slightly altered) saying, an inscription found on the General Post Office in New York City, is widely regarded as the motto of the U.S. […]

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Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985)

In 1976, Americans celebrated a bicentennial, the anniversary of a revolution against an intrusive, heavy-handed, and unresponsive national government. Repeated petitions and remonstrances by the people’s elected local representatives had been dismissed and ignored by the political elite who controlled that far-away national government, and who considered the people ignorant bumpkins. Among the causes of […]

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Wickard v. Filburn (1942)

In 1938, Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 (the “1938 Act”), which it enacted to address and correct provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 for farm subsidies that the Supreme Court had found unconstitutional.  The 1938 Act established marketing quotas and price controls.  Roscoe Filburn, a farmer in Ohio, admittedly sowed […]

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National League of Cities v. Usery (1976)

National League of Cities v. Usery: “I’m Not Dead” As the Left often does, once they are out of national power, they rediscover the power of state sovereignty. Ironically, they are using it to resist the new administration’s federal immigration policy in formalistically the same way as did the Right during the early days of […]

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National Labor Relations Board v. Jones And Laughlin Steel Company (1937)

After his landslide reelection victory in 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a message to Congress on February 5, 1937, that decried the alleged, but fictional, congestion of judicial dockets due in part, he explained, to the incapacity of aged or infirm judges. He proposed a law that would allow him to appoint up to six […]

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Carter v. Carter Coal (1936)

George Lafayette Carter was a reclusive Virginia industrialist who became a millionaire through business developments based on mining in what became known as the Mountain Empire, encompassing parts of Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia. By the time of his death in 1936, he had built his fortune through extensive coal field purchases, founding numerous […]

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Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)

Louis Brandeis: First Jewish Justice of the Supreme Court Until 1916, the United States Supreme Court had never had a Jewish justice.  That changed on January 28, 1916, when Louis Brandeis, the “People’s Lawyer,” was nominated to the highest court in the land by President Woodrow Wilson. Brandeis served for almost twenty-three years and authored […]

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Schechter Poultry Corp v. U.S. (1935)

The “Sick Chicken” Case: Schechter Poultry Corp v. U.S. (1935) In 1933, the American economy was mired in the great depths of the Great Depression characterized by unprecedented unemployment and deflation of prices for business and farmers. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisors believed that the problems of the economy were rooted in excessive […]

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Gold Clause Cases (1935)

Soon after his first inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to close the gold window. At the time, the American currency was tied to the value of gold, and the financial crisis was putting serious pressure on government gold reserves. To deal with the problem, the government devalued the dollar. As an emergency measure, Congress […]

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Home Building & Loan v. Blaisdell (1934)

To stem home and farm foreclosures during the Great Depression, Minnesota passed a law which allowed a mortgagor to pay court-determined rent set below the contractual mortgage amount. The mortgage holder could not foreclose as long as the mortgagor paid the reduced rent.

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Nebbia v. New York (1934)

In the late 1920s, farmers across the country generally did not participate in the prosperity of the decade. They were often unable to sell their crops to distributors for sufficient prices to cover their costs of production. Especially in New York, where the milk industry was the cornerstone of agricultural economy, tension between dairy farmers […]

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Champion v. Ames (1903)

The Industrial Revolution created theretofore unimaginable wealth, some of which trickled down as wages to workers in the mills and factories of the 19th century. Though substandard by today’s measure, those wages were sufficiently high and working conditions sufficiently appealing to attract people from farms to the growing cities. Waves of immigrants, mostly impoverished Europeans, […]

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Allgeyer v. Louisiana (1897)

After the Civil War, United States commerce experienced rapid growth, both among the states and in international markets. Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 regulating interstate trade. Many state legislatures wrote constitutional provisions and statutes intended to protect their states’ businesses from what they perceived as unfair competition from other states.

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United States v. E.C. Knight (1895)

Federal Regulation and the Rise of Big Business: United States v. E.C. Knight (1895) The late nineteenth century was a time of business consolidation as the American economy experienced a “great merger movement” with the rise of big business. Through means foul and fair, corporations formed trusts that dominated entire industries to combat competitive pressures […]

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Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)

Dartmouth College was chartered in 1769 by King George III. In 1816, over thirty years after the conclusion of the American Revolution, New Hampshire’s legislature attempted to alter Dartmouth College’s charter  by giving  the Governor of New Hampshire authority to appoint trustees to the board and creating a state board with veto power over trustee decisions—in […]

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New Jersey v. Wilson (1812)

New Jersey v. Wilson, 11 U.S. 7 Cranch 164 164 (1812) Are the terms of a contract inviolate?  Can a contract run in perpetuity and affect something other than the parties involved?  Can contracts be impaired (modified or broken) without the consent of both parties?    These were the questions facing the Court in 1812 when […]

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Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. v. City of Chicago (1897)

In October 1880, the Chicago City Council decided to widen Rockwell Street, requiring the City to acquire certain private property owned by individuals and a right-of-way owned by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company.  The City of Chicago brought a condemnation suit in state court, and the jury awarded compensation to the individuals but […]

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Baker v. Carr (1962)

In 1962, the Supreme Court embarked on what has been described by one scholar as “the most significant reformist activism in which the Warren Court engaged,” other than civil rights cases involving blacks. The constitutional arena was the apportionment of legislative districts, and the case was Baker v. Carr. Chief Justice Earl Warren called Baker […]

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San Antonio v. Rodriguez (1973)

From our nation’s earliest days, the national government has been involved in education, due to its significance in preparation for constructive citizenship in a republican form of government. In 1787 the Northwest Ordinance set aside public lands specifically for the establishment of schools. Through additional grants of land and money, formation of administrative agencies, the […]

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Justice George Sutherland (1862-1942)

Justice George Sutherland: One of the Four Horsemen Introduction  In the Supreme Court’s history, six justices were born outside of the United States.  The fifth of those born on foreign soil was George Sutherland (second born in England).  After a career in private practice and public office, Sutherland became an Associate Justice of the Supreme […]

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Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. (1926)

In Euclid v. Ambler, the Supreme Court upheld the right of the Village of Euclid in Ohio, mostly farmland east of Cleveland, to impose zoning restrictions on property owners. Today, zoning is a near-universal practice. While zoning did not originate with the village of Euclid, the Euclid case was the first federal case, and it […]

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Gelpcke v. City of Dubuque (1863)

Gelpcke v. City of Dubuque, 68 U.S. 1 Wall. 175 (1863) – “Oscillations” in the Law On its face, Gelpcke v. Dubuque appears to be about the validity of municipal bonds and not much else, but there were deeper legal issues at play. Namely, who has the ultimate authority to interpret a state constitution or […]

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Texas v. White (1869)

TEXAS v. WHITE ET AL., 74 U.S. 700 (1869) is one of the most important decisions made by the Supreme Court, because it addresses the nature of the Union. More specifically, is the Union bound together through the consent of the States or the coercive power of the United States government.

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Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842)

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence asserted that “all men are created equal.” And yet, slavery was legal in all thirteen colonies at the time. Beginning with Pennsylvania in 1780, northern states moved toward the revolutionary ideal by enacting gradual abolition statutes. All children born in Pennsylvania after that time were free persons, though any […]

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Cooley v. Board of Wardens (1851)

Unlike many of his decisions, Chief Justice John Marshall’s opinion in the foundational case Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), which upheld the right of Gibbons to operate a ferry between Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and New York City in competition with his former partner, Ogden, was well-received by the public. It negated a New York State monopoly […]

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Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837)

In 1785, Boston’s population was around 18,000; across the Charles River, Charlestown counted 1,200. Forty years later, Boston’s population had more than tripled, to 60,000; that of Charlestown to 8,000. The need to accommodate the increased travel and commerce between Boston and points inland resulted in protracted litigation before the Supreme Court in the 1830s […]

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Briscoe v. Bank of Kentucky (1837)

In 1832, Nicholas Biddle, president of the Second Bank of the United States, applied for an early renewal of the bank’s charter.  He feared that bank opponent, President Andrew Jackson, would move to destroy the bank after he was re-elected.  So, Biddle tried to outmaneuver the president before the election.  His opponent, Henry Clay, and […]

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Craig v. Missouri (1830)

In 1821, the State of Missouri enacted legislation entitled, “An act for the establishment of loan offices,” which permitted the Missouri Treasurer to issue loan certificates – a form of paper currency issued by the state – up to a total of $200,000.  The Missouri Supreme Court found the loans to be valid, and the […]

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Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

In the early 1830s, the city of Baltimore was developing as a bustling urban center and port.  The city diverted the streams around John Barron’s successful wharf and lowered the water level, which negatively impacted his business.  He sued the city to recover his financial losses.

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Willson v. Black Bird Creek Marsh Company (1829)

The Dissolution of the Dormant Commerce Clause:  Willson v. Black Bird Creek Marsh Co. In The Colorado Kid, author Steven King says, “Sooner or later, everything old is new again.”  This is certainly true when it comes to issues of public policy and constitutional law.  In this essay, we discuss the concept of the “Dormant” […]

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Green v. Biddle (1823)

Green v. Biddle: Clear Title and the Relationship of States to the Federal Government The easy conveyance of clear title to real property is an essential element of both a stable and prosperous civil society. “Clearing” title by conveying “unappropriated” lands to a central government is one way that fledgling or developing nations spur exploration, […]

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Fletcher v. Peck (1810)

At the Peace of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War, the United States (defined, as in the Declaration of Independence, as the individual states) were recognized by the British as free and independent. While the British relinquished to those United States territory from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, the several states did not thereby relinquish […]

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Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)

At times during our nation’s history, the executive branch of the United States government has tested the limits of its power by taking actions that are not explicitly granted to the president or executive branch.  For example, in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (the “Steel Seizure Case”) (1952), the Supreme Court addressed the […]

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United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936)

The three branches of the United States government are often questioned with respect to whether their exercise of powers exceeded the limitations imposed upon them by the United States Constitution. In U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936), the issue was the extent of the president’s and executive branch’s power to conduct the foreign affairs of […]

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Field v. Clark (1892)

Can Congress give away its legislative powers to other branches of government, including administrative agencies?  In the case of Field v. Clark, the Supreme Court decisively said “no,” laying down a precedent that stands against much of what our government does today.

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McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

In May, 1818, James William McCulloch was a cashier at the Baltimore branch of the Second Bank of the United States.  McCulloch issued a series of bank notes on which the bank did not pay a Maryland state tax.  The state treasurer quickly sued to recover the money and won a judgment in Maryland’s highest […]

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Ex Parte McCardle (1869)

Ex parte McCardle was forged in the superheated atmosphere of Southern reconstruction after the Civil War. The struggle to shape that reconstruction pitted the “Radical” Republicans (representing the pre-war abolitionist wing) against moderates within the party. Democrats, reduced to a rump faction, could do little more than get out of the way and, if palatable, […]

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Propeller Genesee Chief v. Fitzhugh (1851)

On June 19, 1846, the Rochester, New York, Democrat newspaper reported that over 4,000 people assembled to witness the launch of a new steamship (then often called a “propeller” due to the novel screw propulsion mechanism), the Genesee Chief. She was described as “faultless in her model and appointments.” At 144 feet long, with 20 […]

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Justice Joseph Story (1779-1845)

Justice Joseph Story: The Youngest Justice Appointed to the Court Most lawyers in private practice at the age of 32 are preparing for potential consideration for, and transition to, partnership.  At that same age, after a distinguished government and law firm career in Boston, Joseph Story took his seat on the United States Supreme Court […]

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Swift v. Tyson (1842)

Section 34 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 provides that “the laws of the several states, except where the Constitution, treaties or statutes of the United States shall otherwise recognize or provide” were to be applied and followed “as rules of decision in trials at common law.” George Swift, a Maine resident, was assigned a […]

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Cohens v. Virginia (1821)

Over the years, the Supreme Court has addressed several constitutional topics in cases involving lotteries. Perhaps none is as significant as Chief Justice John Marshall’s opinion in Cohens v. Virginia. The case was the third major act in a decades-long contest over the nature of the Union and, more specifically, over the constitutional relationship between […]

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Chief Justice John Marshall (1755-1835)

“The Great Chief Justice,” John Marshall (1755-1835) The longest-serving Chief Justice in our history, author of every major Supreme Court ruling in the first third of the nineteenth century—including the one establishing the principle of judicial review—John Marshall earned undisputed honor as “the Great Chief Justice.” He deserves honor also as a great man.

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Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Marbury v. Madison (1803) – A Landmark Decision Establishing The Supreme Court’s Role In an effort to fill the Chief Justice vacancy on the Supreme Court before leaving office, President John Adams offered the position to John Jay, who declined, citing the lack of dignity and respect of the Supreme Court.  Secretary of State John […]

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The United States Supreme Court: Landmark Decisions and the Justices Who Made Them

Introduction: Why Study the Landmark Decisions? What does it mean to “constitute” America? How would anyone do that? And why? And what is “America,” anyway? “America can mean simply the “New World”—the two American continents, “new to the late-Renaissance Europeans who stumbled upon them en route to China, if not to the Asian settlers who’d […]

Actress Janine Turner propels student’s career

    Contact: Shonda Werry Constituting America Tel: 202-246-0307 Email: constitutingamerica@yahoo.com   CONSTITUTING AMERICA PROMOTES STUDENT’S PSA: 3.4 MILLION VIEWS Constituting America, founded by actress Janine Turner (Northern Exposure, Friday Night Lights, Cliffhanger) and Cathy Gillespie, to air student’s winning PSA on the Constitution nationwide on February 13th. February 8, 2017 (Colleyville, TX) Constituting America […]

Constituting America’s Seventh 90 Day Study: The United States Supreme Court: Landmark Decisions And The Justices Who Made Them

INTRODUCTION The United States Supreme Court: Landmark Decisions And The Justices Who Made Them   JUDICIAL POWERS Marbury v. Madison (1803) – Justice of the Peace William Marbury versus Jefferson’s Secretary of State James Madison who was not allowed to deliver commissions for judicial appointments: Boundary between constitutionally separate executive and judicial branch powers. Chief […]

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Constitutional Issues In The 2016 Election

Faithful readers of Constituting America’s 90-Day Study have followed the story of our constitution through each of our presidential elections. We have seen that the moral foundations of both of our constitutions—the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution that replaced it—find their most cogent expression in the Declaration of Independence.

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2012, Barack Obama Defeats Mitt Romney

  Only once before the twenty-first century has America had three consecutive eight-year presidencies: the years 1801-25 in which three members of “the House of Virginia,” Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe each won two general elections and served for eight years. Historians have called the end of this period “the Era of Good […]

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2008, Barack Obama: Forty-Fourth President of the United States

  Barack Obama: Forty-Fourth President of the United States Nickname: The First African-American President Terms in Office: 2009-2013; 2013-present Fast Stats Born August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii Parents: Barack Obama Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro Barack Obama is still living and in office Age upon Start of First Term: 47; Age upon […]

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2004, George W. Bush Defeats John Kerry: Due Process, Terrorism, And The Constitution

  “One of (PATRIOT Act II’s) provisions would apparently enable federal employees to strip US citizens of their rights without due process. More broadly, it would create a separate, very shadowy justice system for terrorist suspects in which most of the rights and procedures normally guaranteed criminal suspects can be abrogated at the discretion of […]

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2000, George W. Bush Defeats Al Gore, Ralph Nader: A Case Study On Choosing Electors

  Congress Sets Times for Electors Article II, Section 1. Clause 4: The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. Title 3, Chapter 1 of the U.S. Code describes the timeframe for the […]

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1996, Bill Clinton, Presidential Elections, And Constitutional Rule Of Law

  At the Constitutional Convention of 1787 a Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” to which Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.” The 1996 presidential election cycle and the twenty years hence have demonstrated the fragility of Franklin’s “If.”

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1992, Bill Clinton Defeats George H.W. Bush

  Bill Clinton: Forty-Second President of the United States Nickname: The Comeback Kid Terms in Office: 1993-1997; 1997-2001 Fast Stats: Born August 19, 1946, in Hope Arkansas Parents: William Jefferson Blythe III and Virginia Dell Cassidy; Stepfather: Roger Clinton Bill Clinton is still living Age upon Start of First Term: 46; Age upon Conclusion of […]

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1988, George H.W. Bush Defeats Michael Dukakis

  A Thousand Points of Light: George H.W. Bush and the 1988 Election George H.W. Bush had three significant obstacles to overcome if he wanted to be elected president in 1988.  The first was that Bush’s election seemed to be a referendum on eight years of the Reagan presidency.  Americans were split over that legacy […]

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1984, Ronald Reagan Defeats Walter Mondale: Geraldine Ferraro Nomination As Vice President And The Constitutional Implications Of The Feminist Movement

Morning in America: Ronald Reagan & the 1984 Election In his 1984 State of the Union Address, President Ronald Reagan laid out his principles and vision that had guided his first term and provided the foundation for his re-election campaign. He reminded voters that the economy was growing rapidly and was back on track after […]

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1980, Ronald Reagan Defeats Jimmy Carter, John Anderson: The Critique Of The Administrative State

  In many ways, the circumstances surrounding the 1980 presidential election mirror those surrounding the 2016 elections: America’s economy in the doldrums and an electorate hungry for change. But the 2016 elections allow us the hindsight of nearly four full decades of history, and teach us that if we aren’t willing to learn those lessons, […]

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1976, Jimmy Carter: Thirty-Ninth President Of The United States

  Jimmy Carter: Thirty-Ninth President of the United States Nickname: The Peanut Farmer Terms in Office: 1977-1981 Fast Stats Born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia Parents: James Earl and Lillian Gordy Carter Jimmy Carter is still living Age upon Start of Term: 52; Age upon Conclusion of Term: 56 Religious Affiliation: Southern Baptist Political […]

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Our Constitution Works: President Ford’s Date With Destiny

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, the Grand Rapids Economic Club and the National Constitutional Center hosted “Our Constitution Works: President Ford’s Date with Destiny” on October 20, 2014 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The following is a partial transcript of the videotaped panel discussion. Used with permission. Doug DeVos, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Trustee, […]

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1972, Richard Nixon Defeats George McGovern: Watergate

  During the 1972 election, incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon won an astoundingly large margin, garnering 520 electoral votes. Despite his huge advantages during the election, President Nixon and his campaign operatives engaged in unethical and illegal activities during the campaign. The ultimate victim of Nixon’s crimes turned out to be Nixon himself, as he […]

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A Different Take On Watergate

The American Mind with Charles R. Kesler: Presented by The Claremont Institute. Originally published on Jan 30, 2014 in the third segment with University of Nevada Reno Professor John Marini, Marini and Kesler discuss President Nixon and his losing battle with Washington bureaucracies. Used with permission. PRESIDENT NIXON VS. THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE.  An Interview with […]

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1972, Richard Nixon: Thirty-Seventh President of the United States

  Richard M. Nixon: Thirty-Seventh President of the United States Nickname: Red Hunter Terms in Office: 1969-1973; 1973-1974 Fast Stats Born January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California Parents: Francis Antony and Hannah Milhous Nixon Died April 22, 1994, in New York, New York; age 81 Age upon Start of First Term: 56; Age upon […]

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1968, Supreme Court Decisions On Civil Rights: An Issue Raised By George C. Wallace

  Anyone who believes that today’s political discourse has reached a new low should consider the political career and rhetoric of George C. Wallace, a 1968 Presidential candidate for the American Independent Party, a party formed by Wallace after the Democratic Party rejected his segregationist agenda.  Wallace was at the forefront of resistance to the […]

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1968, Richard Nixon Defeats Hubert Humphrey, George C. Wallace: The Rise Of The “New Left”

  A House Divided: The Presidential Election of 1968 The presidential election of 1968 was held amidst a deluge of violence and civil unrest. That the United States managed to survive this annus horribilis was a testament to the resilience of its people and of its constitutional framework. The simple fact that the election proceeded […]

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1964, Lyndon B. Johnson Defeats Barry Goldwater – The “Great Society” And The Constitution

  Part of this essay is taken from Brion McClanahan’s 9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America and Four Who Tried to Save Her (Regnery History, 2016). The 1964 election between Barry Goldwater and Lyndon Johnson was a watershed election.  Goldwater “flipped” the South and by the early 1970s, the South was voting solidly Republican for […]

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1960, The Election Of The First Catholic President As A Vindication Of The First Amendment’s Clauses On Religious Freedom And Religion Establishment

  JFK, Catholicism, and the 1960 Election The American Founding ushered in a “new order for the ages” that included the unprecedented and remarkable natural right of liberty of conscience.  The First Amendment protected this universal right of all humans and banned Congress from establishing an official religion.  The Constitution also banned all religious tests […]

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1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower Defeats Aldai Stevenson

  The election of 1956 saw Adlai Stevenson again tasked with the unenviable duty of an electoral contest against Dwight D. Eisenhower, which, it will come as no surprise, did not end in Stevenson’s favor.  Eisenhower is well known to students of history and government, Stevenson, a one-term governor of Illinois, barely garners a mention […]

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A Memorial Day Message by Constituting America Founder & Co-Chair Janine Turner

Constituting America first published this message from Founder & Co-Chair Janine Turner over Memorial Day Weekend, 2010, the inaugural year of our organization.  We are pleased to share it with you again, as we celebrate our 6th birthday!   On this Memorial Day weekend, I think it is appropriate to truly contemplate and think about […]

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1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower Defeats Adlai Stevenson: Communism And Civil Liberties

  Communism and Civil Liberties: The Election of 1952 The election of 1952 brought about the first GOP presidential victory in more than 20 years.  It came about at a time while many in America were weary from World War II, and they were very apprehensive about the potential for subversion by the Soviet Union […]

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1948, Harry Truman: The Atomic Bomb, Cold War, Marshall Plan & The Fair Deal and Civil Rights Reform

  Harry S. Truman: Thirty-Third President of the United States Nickname: The High-Tax Harry Terms in Office: 1945-1949; 1949-1953 Fast Stats Born May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri Parents: John Anderson and Martha Ellen Young Truman Died December 26, 1972, in Kansas City, Missouri; age 88 Age upon Start of First Term: 60; Age upon […]

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1948, Harry Truman Defeats Thomas Dewey, Strom Thurmond (“Dixiecrat”), Henry Wallace (Progressive Party): “States’ Rights” And Civil Rights Issues Raised By Dixiecrats

__ 1948: The Dixiecrats The primary elections of 2016 have invited comparisons to political factions in American politics that haven’t appeared in such clear focus for nearly seventy years. Although the Republican Party of 1948 had papered over its divisions between moderate-to-liberal business interests on the East Coast—represented by New York Governor Thomas Dewey—and Middle-Western […]

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1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt Defeats Thomas Dewey: Constitutional Implications Of Roosevelt’s Liberal Internationalism, United Nations

  Global War and Peace: The 1944 Election In his 1944 State of the Union address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered a “Second Bill of Rights” that redefined the rights of the founding bill of rights. This radical pronouncement promised economic security and “positive rights” guaranteed by the federal government.

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1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Unprecedented Run For A Third Term

FDR’s Third Term and the Twenty-Second Amendment On November 5, 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first and only U.S. president to be elected for more than two terms. A newspaper headline depicted the historic moment with a joke that captured the public’s ambivalence toward Roosevelt’s unprecedented break from tradition: “Safe on third!”

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1936, Supreme Court Opposition To New Deal Laws

  The United States Supreme Court and the New Deal Many a law student is familiar with the line, “A switch in time, saved nine.”  It refers to the actions of Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes and Justice Owen J. Roberts – Supreme Court justices who switched their votes from holding the legislative program of […]

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1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt Defeats Alfred Landon: Administrative Centralization And Its Implications For Constitutionalism

  Franklin Delano Roosevelt, running for re-election in 1936, received 60.8% of the popular vote, second-highest popular vote percentage since that method of selecting presidential electors became dominant in the 1830s. Only Lyndon Johnson’s 61.1% over Barry Goldwater in 1964, Richard Nixon’s 60.7% over George McGovern in 1972, and Warren Harding’s 60.3% over James Cox […]

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1932, The “New Deal”

  In 1932, the U.S. economy reached its nadir during the Great Depression.  Unemployment had risen to more than 20 percent, or 11 million Americans, matched by a similar number of the underemployed as factories and businesses closed their doors.  Banks were closing at an alarming rates as people instantly lost their life savings.  Hundreds […]

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1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt Defeats Herbert Hoover: How The Great Depression Threatened Constitutionalism

  The 1932 Presidential election took place during the height of the Great Depression.  While a number of candidates ran on third party tickets, the main fight for the White House featured the incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover against Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt and none of the other candidates garnered more than 2% of the popular […]

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1928, The Effects Of Urbanization On The U. S. And Its Implications For Constitutional Government

  How Urbanism Forever Changed America The 1928 Presidential Election remains the zenith of Republican political power.  Republican Herbert Hoover crushed Democrat Al Smith, winning 58 percent of the popular vote and 83 percent of the electoral vote. [1] The landslide was fueled by years of prosperity, affection for outgoing President Calvin Coolidge, and deep […]

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Herbert Hoover: Thirty-First President Of The United States

  Thirty-First President of the United States Nickname: The Great Humanitarian Terms in Office: 1929-1933 Fast Stats Born August 10, 1874, in West Branch, Iowa Parents: Jesse Clark and Hulda Randall Minthorn Hoover Died October 20, 1964, in New York City, New York; age 90 Age upon Start of Term: 54, Age upon Conclusion of […]

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Women’s Suffrage And The Impact On Presidential Elections

  In the 2012 presidential election, 53 percent of the voters were women. Imagine if women, who make up about 51 percent of the American population, couldn’t vote. It wasn’t that long ago when that was a reality.

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1924, Calvin Coolidge Defeats Robert M. LaFollette, Burton K. Wheeler (Progressive Party), And John W. Davis: The Direct Election Of Presidents

  From today’s standpoint, the presidential election of 1924 might appear to be an oddity or an outlier.  In 1924 the nominees of both parties ran on a conservative domestic agenda of limited government and tax cuts.  For this reason author Garland Tucker calls 1924 “The High Tide of American Conservatism.”

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1920, The Sedition Act And Eugene Debs: Raising Of The Issue Of The “Red Scare”

  The Election of 1920: The Sedition Act, Eugene Debs, and the “Red Scare” Eugene V. Debs was a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World and a frequent Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.  Debs became a well-known socialist both through his political activity and as a result of the […]

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Warren G. Harding: Twenty-Ninth President Of The United States

  Twenty-Ninth President of the United States Nickname: Charming Harding Terms in Office: 1921-1923 Fast Stats Born November 2, 1865, in Blooming Grove, Ohio Parents: George Tryon and Phoebe Elizabeth Dickerson Harding Died August 2, 1923, in San Francisco, California; age 57 Age upon Start of Term: 55; Age upon Death: 57 Religious Affiliation: Baptist […]

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1916, Woodrow Wilson Defeats Charles Evans Hughes

  The 1916 Presidential election pitted incumbent Democratic President Woodrow Wilson against Republican Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes.  The election was a very close one and had significant ramifications for the “progressive” movement.

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1912, Eugene Debs’ Socialism And The U. S. Constitution

  Dissenting from the Supreme Court’s 1905 opinion in Lochner v. New York that found unconstitutional a maximum-hour law for bakery employees, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., declared, “[A] constitution is not intended to embody a particular economic theory, whether of paternalism and the organic relation of the citizen to the State or of laissez […]

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1912, Theodore Roosevelt’s “New Nationalism”

  By August 1910, Theodore Roosevelt had been out of office for a year and a half. He was unhappy with President William Howard Taft’s performance. Although Roosevelt had effectively designated Taft as his successor and continued to esteem him personally, Taft wanted no part of the rising Progressive movement in American politics. By 1910, […]

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1912, Woodrow Wilson Defeats William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Eugene Debs: Woodrow Wilson’s “New Freedom”

  “The Professor and the Bull Moose” 1912 Election In June, 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt broke with the tradition of candidates not attending conventions and arrived at the Republican National Convention with great fanfare. He fervently announced, “We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord.” He then proudly labelled himself a “Bull […]

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Progressivism And The Constitution

  In The Federalist No. 47 James Madison asserted that “accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands…may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” Indeed, the importance of the separation of powers was so widely accepted by the American public in 1788 that Madison could confidently declare it to […]

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1908, William Howard Taft Defeats William Jennings Bryan

  The 1908 Presidential election featured the incumbent Republican President Theodore Roosevelt following through on his promise to not seek a third term and encouraging the Republicans to nominate Secretary of War William Howard Taft.  While a number of third party candidates ran against Taft, the only non-Republican candidate who garnered any significant votes was […]

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1904 And 1908 Elections: Theodore Roosevelt’s “Square Deal” vs. William Jennings Bryan’s Populism

  The United States Constitution is silent on the subject of corporations.    After the Civil War, as American society began to quickly evolve from agrarian to industrial, politicians from both major parties raised concerns about the rise of corporations, banks, and businesses, and the need for protection of the individual.  Against this backdrop, two important […]

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1904, Theodore Roosevelt Defeats Alton Parker: Anti-Trust Legislation

  “The Most Absurd Political Campaign of Our Time”:  Teddy Roosevelt, Alton Parker and the Election of 1904 The candidates who squared off in the presidential election of 1904, Republican President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt and Democrat Alton Parker, were both native to New York State; beyond that one commonality, they were a study in contrasts.  […]

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1896, William McKinley Defeats William Jennings Bryan: The Gold Standard vs. Bimetallism

  America’s politics leading into the 1896 election looks familiar. The political system was broken: In five presidential elections, no one received 50% and for 20 of 24 years, America had divided government and gridlock in which little got done. The animosity between the parties was beyond normal partisanship: they were still fighting the Civil […]

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William McKinley: Twenty-Fifth President Of The United States

  Twenty-fifth President of the United States Nickname: Major McKinley Terms in Office: 1897–1901; 1901 Fast Stats Born January 29, 1843, in Niles, Ohio Parents: William and Nancy Campbell Allison McKinley Died September 14, 1901, in Buffalo, New York; age 58 Age upon Start of First Term: 54; Age upon Conclusion of First Term: 58 […]

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Grover Cleveland: Twenty-Second And Twenty-Fourth President Of The United States

  Grover Cleveland Twenty-second and Twenty-fourth President of the United States Nickname: The Veto President Terms in Office: 1885–1889; 1893–1897 Fast Stats Born March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey Parents: Richard and Anne Neal Cleveland Died June 24, 1908, in Princeton, New Jersey; age 71 Age upon Start of First Term: 47; Age upon […]

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1888, Benjamin Harrison Defeats Grover Cleveland: The Constitutional Issues Raised By Cleveland’s Veto Of Pension Legislation For Veterans

  Portions of this essay are from the chapter “Grover Cleveland” in Brion McClanahan, 9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America and Four Who Tried to Save Her (Regnery History, 2016). Grover Cleveland lost the 1888 election to Benjamin Harrison through voter fraud, and it involved what may be considered the first major lobby group in […]

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1884, Grover Cleveland Defeats James G. Blaine: The Issues Surrounding The Furor Stirred By The “Rum, Romanism, And Rebellion” Slogan, Regarding Religious Freedom And Anti-Catholic Prejudice

  The election of 1884 was the first to put a Democrat in the White House since the Civil War. That it did, albeit narrowly was a testament to the way even the earliest stages of industrialization had transformed the country, setting it on the road to something far removed from its, rural, agricultural, protestant […]

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1880, James Garfield Defeats Winfield Scott Hancock: The Tariff Controversy, Post-Civil War

  When one reflects on the history of the United States, the politics of the Gilded Age are often overlooked. Many find little value in understanding the intricacies of the political wheeling and dealing, often engineered by political machinery in both major parties. Nevertheless, these elections are as a part of the collective American consciousness […]

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1876, Rutherford B. Hayes v. Samuel Tilden: Controversy Over Election Returns In This Election

Not long after the Civil War began, the poet Julia Ward Howe witnessed a procession of Union troops near Washington, D.C. Later that night, words stirred her from her sleep; she arose and caught them on paper. The lines of the Battle Hymn of the Republic that Howe penned that night alerted the hearer that […]

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1876, Rutherford B. Hayes Defeats Samuel Tilden: The End of Reconstruction

  We remember 1865 as the year when our Civil War ended. But by another measure, the standard of von Clausewitz, that war is politics continued by other means, the political conflict that erupted into formal war did not end until after Rutherford B. Hayes was sworn in as president in 1877. The period known […]

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1872, Civil Service Reform

  The regular appearance of remarks on financial corruption in the proceedings of Congress in the Nineteenth Century might seem to indicate that American Government always was susceptible to the highest bidder. Rather, these comments are markers of Americans’ strong dislike and fear of corruption than they are proof that financial corruption was in fact […]

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1872, Ulysses S. Grant Defeats Horace Greeley: The Continuing Controversies Over Reconstruction

  The old bromide that politics makes strange bedfellows was never truer than during Reconstruction, from 1865-1877, a period of profound political chaos. Coalitions unexpectedly broke apart and unexpected coalitions formed. And never did America experience a presidential election that was more strange than the presidential election of 1872. The deep cause of this chaos […]

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1868, Constitutional Issues Surrounding Black Suffrage

  How should we understand the laggard steps of the United States towards the legal enforcement of equal civil and political rights for black Americans? A prevailing sense among Americans today is that the end of legal discrimination was the result of historical evolution. That is, beginning from a morally retrograde starting point, the nation […]

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1868, Ulysses S. Grant Defeats Horatio Seymour: Reconstruction And The Constitution

  Fearless and firm under fire, unflaggingly modest despite reverent acclaim, and always practical – these outstanding qualities of Ulysses S. Grant are acknowledged, whether begrudgingly or enthusiastically, by the many critics of his presidency as well as by his defenders. Grant was quintessentially American, and yet as a leader he proved that his particular […]

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Civil War Amendments

  For nearly the first century of her existence, America had left a promise unfulfilled to both the souls that resided within her borders, as well as humanity at large.  That promise, largely taken for granted today, cost the blood of nearly five thousand in the American Revolution and hundreds of thousands in the Civil […]

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1864, Holding A Presidential Election During A Civil War

  When asked what might derail his agenda for his new Conservative Party government, former British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan is said to have responded, “Events, dear boy. Events.” That aptly describes how the political fortunes of war-time Presidents play out. It is surprisingly difficult for incumbent commanders-in-chief to win even if military campaigns are […]

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1864, Abraham Lincoln Defeats George McClellan: Constitutional Issues Raised By Lincoln’s Conduct Of The War

The Election of 1864: Constitutional Issues Raised by Lincoln’s Conduct of the War The 1864 election pitted the incumbent, Republican President Abraham Lincoln, against George McClellan of the Democratic Party.  It was the first election since 1840 in which an incumbent was renominated by his own party.  A major focus of the election was the […]

Impact Statement

We are the only organization that utilizes the movies, music and television with the kids’ own works, to inspire Americans of all ages to learn about the U.S. Constitution by distributing their works through the national media. Our Impact The core of our mission is to educate Americans about the Constitution and the rights and […]

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1860, Abraham Lincoln’s Understanding of the Constitution, Part 2: The Importance Of The Union

  “… if constitutionally we elect a President, and therefore you undertake to destroy the Union, it will be our duty to deal with you as old John Brown has been dealt with.” – Abraham Lincoln, December 3, 1859 John Brown had been hanged for treason on December 2, 1859.  Brown had lead a raid […]

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1860, Abraham Lincoln’s Understanding Of The Constitution, Part 1: Its Relation To The Declaration Of Independence

  “One would start with great confidence that he could convince any sane child that the simpler propositions of Euclid are true; but, nevertheless, he would fail, utterly, with one who should deny the definitions and axioms. The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free society.” – Abraham Lincoln, Letter to Henry […]

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1860, John Bell’s Understanding Of The Constitution

  The election of 1860 featured a number of candidates vying for the Presidency, with the tensions over slavery at the forefront.   Abraham Lincoln would carry the North for the Republican Party and win the election over numerous candidates, including three contenders that garnered significant votes.  Other essays in this series cover the 1860 Presidential […]

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1860, John C. Breckinridge’s Understanding Of The Constitution

  Election of 1860 John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky entered the year 1860 as Vice President, having been elected to that office in 1856 as a Democrat from the Stephen Douglas wing of the party. Taking the oath of office when barely 36 years old, one year above the constitutional minimum, he remains the youngest […]

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1860, Stephen Douglas’ Understanding Of The Constitution

  “Tell them to obey the laws and uphold the Constitution.” Stephen A. Douglas, deathbed instructions for his sons, June 3, 1861[1] Stephen Douglas’ instruction to his sons to uphold the Constitution should have been quite clear. He had spent three decades in public life, including 18 years in the United States Congress. He had […]

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1860, Abraham Lincoln Defeats Stephen Douglas, John C. Breckinridge, John Bell: Constitutional Issues Surrounding Secessionism And “The Crisis Of The House Divided”

  The election of 1860 would polarize the nation and challenge the durability of the Constitution. In 1787, the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia established a new government for the United States of America. For over seventy years, the country had fought fierce political battles over slavery and federalism. Compromises, pacts, and informal precedents managed to […]

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1860, Abraham Lincoln’s Cooper Union Address And Mathew Brady’s Lincoln Photo: The Making Of The President

  The Making of the President 1860—Mathew Brady and the Cooper Union Address Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential campaign, yet on a national level, he had served only a single term in the House of Representatives. He had gained renown from his famed debates with Senator Douglas, but remained a minor political figure. How […]

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1856, The Rise Of The Republican Party

  The 1850s was, for the American political party system, a decade of “creative destruction,” to borrow a concept from the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter. This process of collapse and rebirth, sometimes referred to as a political “realignment,” was triggered by the internal contradictions of a constitutional order resting simultaneously on the animating principle of […]

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1856, James Buchanan Defeats Millard Fillmore, John C. Fremont: The Kansas-Nebraska Act

  1856 Race for President—James Buchanan defeats Millard Fillmore and John C. Fremont The political scene in 1856 was chaotic. The Whig Party had collapsed because of a regional dispute over slavery. The American Party (Know-Nothings) had scooped up Whig remnants to rail against immigrants and Catholics. The new Republican Party, formed to fight slavery, […]

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1852, Franklin Pierce Defeats Winfield Scott, John Pitale: The Controversy Over The Fugitive Slave Act Of 1850

  The 1852 election pitted Franklin Pierce of the Democratic Party against General Winfield Scott of the Whig Party, John P. Hale of the Free Soil Party, Daniel Webster of the Union Party, Jacob Broom of the Native American Party, and George Troop of the Southern Rights Party.  In nominating Pierce, the Whig party refused […]

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Election Of 1848: Abolitionism And The Constitution

  The 1848 election pitted former President Martin Van Buren of the Free Soil Party against Zachary Taylor of the Whig Party, Gerrit Smith of the Liberty Party, and Lewis Cass of the Democratic Party.  The incumbent, President James Polk, did not seek reelection due to his declining health and his prior promise to serve […]

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1848, Zachary Taylor Defeats Martin Van Buren, Lewis Cass: Popular Sovereignty In The Territories, Cass’s Issue That Would Affect U. S. Constitutional Politics For The Next Decade

  The Missouri Compromise of 1820, it has been said often, delayed the Civil War for a generation. The act could not, however, eliminate the reality of slavery and the inherent contradiction of such an institution existing in a society founded on the idea of freedom. The Compromise had loaded the dice in favor of […]

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1844, The Issue Of Oregon Territorial Boundary

  Fifty-Four Forty or Fight! In the early 1840s, thousands of settlers from the Midwest traveled to Independence, Missouri, where they loaded hundreds of pounds of food, tools, and supplies on their oxen-drawn wagons.  They launched an epic overland trek 2,000 miles to the Oregon Territory and braved its dangers in order to participate in […]

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1844, James K. Polk Defeats Henry Clay, James Birney – Texas Annexation As It Related To The Issue Of Slavery

  The election of 1844 was notable in that the incumbent Whig President, John Tyler, who ascended to the Presidency when President William Henry Harrison died one month after his inauguration, was not nominated by his party to seek a second term as President.  Tyler’s focus on the annexation of Texas as a slave state […]

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1841, The Presidency Of John Tyler

  Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House, a Wall Street Journal Book; James Taranto and Leonard Leo, Editors; Free Press, 2004. Reprinted with permission.   Tyler understood the president’s role under the Constitution. His defense of the presidency against Congress and his own party should have earned him a […]

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1840, William Henry Harrison Defeats Martin Van Buren: The Appeal Of Running Military Heroes For President And The Issue Of Generalship As A Qualification For Executive Office

  “The President holds the sword of the community” and the Congress “not only commands the purse but prescribes the rules.” The “judiciary has no force or will, but merely an opinion.” Alexander Hamilton states all of this in his Federalist paper #78. The framers knew this separation of power was an important one. Knowing […]

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1836, The Tariff Issue And The Constitution

  The Election of 1836: The Tariff Issue, Nullification and the Constitution The 1836 Presidential election saw Democratic incumbent Vice President Martin Van Buren win the election in a campaign that featured four candidates from the newly-formed Whig Party running against Van Buren by region against a background of Southern threats of nullification and secession, […]

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1836, Martin Van Buren Defeats William Henry Harrison, Daniel Webster, Hugh White: The Unusual Practice Of Running Three Candidates By One Party (The Whigs) In Different Parts Of The Country

  Martin Van Buren was victorious over the Whig Party and its slate of candidates in the election of 1836, but the preparation for this victory had been a long time coming.  Van Buren had been championing the causes of Jefferson’s Democratic Republican party since early in his career.  He was, through his affiliation with […]

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1832, The Anti-Masonic Controversy

  The election of 1832 featured the incumbent Democratic President, Andrew Jackson, against National Republican Party candidate Henry Clay as the main contender.  Jackson easily won re-election.  A third party, the Anti-Masonic Party, also nominated a candidate, William Wirt, who received just under 8% of the popular vote but only 7 of the 286 Electoral […]

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1832, Andrew Jackson Defeats Henry Clay, William Wirt: Re-Chartering Of The Bank Of The U.S.

  “The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me, but I shall kill it,” President Andrew Jackson ominously declared on July 4, 1832, to his political confidante and future vice-president, Martin Van Buren, during the apex of his struggle with the Second Bank of the United States.

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1828, Controversy Over Andrew Jackson’s War Record And The Question Of Civilian Control Over The Military

  1828: The General and the Presidency Americans remember Andrew Jackson’s victory over John Quincy Adams in 1828 as the General’s revenge for his narrow loss to Adams four years earlier, when no candidate received a majority in the Electoral College, the election devolved to Congress, and Henry Clay threw his support to the man […]

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1828, Andrew Jackson Defeats John Quincy Adams: The Two-Party System

  Andrew Jackson’s defeat of John Quincy Adams in the 1828 presidential election has often been heralded as the beginning of the second American party system. While historians today offer a more complicated interpretation of the two-party system that emerged in the 1820s and 1830s, the 1828 contest between Jackson and Adams was unquestionably a […]

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1824, The Second Instance Of An Election Decided In The House Of Representatives

  The election of 1824 was eerily similar to the 2016 campaign.  It was characterized by fierce personal attacks launched by the surrogates of candidates and by the candidates who accused each other of corruption.  Several establishment candidates ran but failed to rouse the base.  One highly popular candidate ran as an anti-establishment, Washington outsider […]

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1824, John Quincy Adams Defeats Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, And William Crawford: Party Nominating Conventions And Popular Votes In Elections

  The 1824 presidential election produced the infamous “Corrupt Bargain,” in which the House of Representatives selected John Quincy Adams as President rather than Andrew Jackson, who finished first in the popular vote and in the Electoral College (but did not reach a majority in either).  More important, however, is the fact that the 1824 […]

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McCulloch v. Maryland: Not Quite A Campaign Issue?

  McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheaton (17 U.S.) 316 (1819), is widely regarded as the landmark case defining the boundaries of power between national and state government in the American federal system. In McCulloch, the United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice John Marshall, explored the extent of implied congressional […]

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1820, James Monroe Won Unopposed: The Missouri Compromise

  The Election of 1820: The Uncontested Race and the Missouri Compromise The election of 1820 was the last presidential contest in which the ticket ran virtually unopposed.  President James Monroe and his Vice President, Daniel D. Tompkins, won all but one electoral vote, which went to John Quincy Adams.  The only other president elected […]

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1816, Constitutional Issues Surrounding The Second Bank Of The U. S.

  The debate over the First and Second Banks of the United States expose the difficulties of constitutional interpretation. Additionally, the debate surrounding the Second Bank of the United States is a study of how principles can give way to political expediency. The following essay will provide a brief overview the Banks, discuss the constitutional […]

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1816, James Monroe Defeats Rufus King: The Hartford Convention

  Rufus King: delegate from Massachusetts to both the Confederation Congress and the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia (where, he was one of five members of the influential Committee of Style), long-time U.S. Senator from New York, unsuccessful candidate for governor of New York, two-time American ambassador to Great Britain (where his first successor was James […]

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James Madison Defeats DeWitt Clinton: The Wartime Election Of 1812

  The waging of war is the greatest challenge any person in national authority can face.  It is an all-consuming task.  It is an undertaking that can destroy both leader and nation.  Of all governments, Constitutional Republics face the greatest challenge.  Conscripting armies, rationing materials, the issuing and obeying of unquestionable orders; all of these […]

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1808, James Madison Defeats Charles Pinckney: The Embargo Act Of 1807

  On June 22, 1807, the American frigate USS Chesapeake set sail from Norfolk, Virginia for the waters of the Atlantic to join in a squadron heading to the Mediterranean to battle the Barbary Pirates.  The 50-gun British warship HMS Leopard immediately pounced upon the ship and sought to board her seeking deserters from the […]

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1804, The Constitutional Significance Of The Louisiana Purchase: An Election Issue

  The best argument against Thomas Jefferson’s 1804 reelection might well have been his presidency’s greatest success. The purchase of Louisiana doubled the nation in size, ensured the free flow of commerce along the Mississippi, and removed from the continent the threat of Napoleon Bonaparte’s France, which would soon take possession of the territory from […]

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1804, Thomas Jefferson Defeats Charles Pinckney: The Significance Of The 12th Amendment

  The election of 1804 is markedly less significant than the “Revolution of 1800.”  While the triumph of Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans over Adams and Hamilton’s Federalist Party is noted by Jefferson as an event that “will ameliorate the condition of man over a great portion of the globe,” 1804 failed to merit such hope for the […]

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1800, Electoral College Tie Between Jefferson And Burr, Throwing An Election Into The House Of Representatives For The First Time

  Today, having the House of Representatives elect the president seems strange, almost freakish. But to the Framers, the participation of the House in this process was expected to be common-place. The problem arises out of the practical need for at least a two-step procedure. There first must be a mechanism to nominate a number […]

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Election Of 1800: Constitutional Implications Of The Alien & Sedition Acts

  In the summer of 1798, the capital of Philadelphia was gripped by several fevers.  Ships from the tropical West Indies brought Yellow Fever to several port cities including Philadelphia, causing thousands to flee for their lives as the number of victims escalated.  The epidemic, however, hardly compared to the political fever taking hold over […]

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1800, Thomas Jefferson Defeats John Adams: The First Peaceful Transfer Of The Presidency From One Political Party To Another

  John Adams’ narrow victory over Thomas Jefferson in the election of 1796 foreshadowed the contentious political environment of Adams’ sole term. Soon enough, the Republican opposition went into full battle mode, and Adams’ refusal to respond by playing party chieftain goes a long way toward explaining his narrow loss in 1800.

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1796, John Adams Defeats Thomas Jefferson: Surviving America’s First Election Between Competing Political Parties

Six months before his retirement from the presidency, George Washington gave a farewell address to the nation. Among several memorable passages is his warning about the evils of the spirit of party, particularly as it manifests itself in republican forms of government. “This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature having its roots in the […]

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1792, George Washington Sets The Tone For America As Its First Elected President

  In early 1790, in just the second year of the general government under the new constitution, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton delivered on the charge made to him by the first Congress in 1789 to prepare a plan for the “adequate support of public credit.” This First Report on the Public Credit proposed to pay […]

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1789: George Washington And The First Presidential Election Under The New Constitution

  The First Presidential Campaign—George Washington, 1788-89 George Washington won the first presidency under the newly established Constitution. He ran unopposed, professed not to want the job, remained for the most part at Mount Vernon, and yet won unanimously. Many believe he never campaigned, but instead acquiesced to a call to duty from his countrymen. […]

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Does The Electoral College Still Work?

  Our founding generation would doubtless be surprised to discover that America’s presidential election system has become the subject of some controversy. Indeed, our Founders were rather proud of the process they’d created. “The mode of appointment of the Chief Magistrate of the United States,” Alexander Hamilton wrote in 1788, “is almost the only part […]

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Why Was The Electoral College Created?

The Electoral College may be one of America’s most misunderstood institutions.  How often do you hear a media outlet or school textbook gratuitously bash our presidential election system as “outdated” or “archaic”? It’s said to be a relic of the horse and buggy era—a process created by slaveholding Founders who didn’t trust the people to […]

Constituting America’s Sixth 90 Day Study: The Intrigue of Presidential Elections and Their Constitutional Impact

Monday, February 15, 2016 Introduction by Constituting America Founder & Co-Chair, Janine Turner & her daughter, Juliette Turner, author of Our Presidents Rock (Harpers Collins/Zondervan) Tuesday, February 16, 2016 Why Was The Electoral College Created? – Tara Ross, author of Enlightened Democracy, the Case for the Electoral College. Wednesday, February 17, 2016 Does The Electoral College Still Work? […]

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Millennials’ Time To Choose – Guest Essayist: Juliette Turner

If one were to look through the list of America’s past presidents, one would quickly conclude that many of the men who held our nation’s highest office would not have reached the Oval Office if they ran today. For example, James Madison’s soft voice and small stature would have branded him as too meek and […]

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The Federal Fruit and Vegetable Cartels – Guest Essayist: Daren Bakst

If you grow fruits and vegetables, the federal government might limit how many fruits and vegetables you can sell. Some raisin growers learned this the hard way when they were fined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for not turning over part of their crop to the federal government. This year, the United […]

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The Preamble of the United States Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

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Article I

Article. I. Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Section. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in […]

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Article I, Section 02, Clause 1-2

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the […]

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Article I, Section 02, Clause 3

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all […]

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Article I, Section 02, Clause 5 and Section 03, Clause 1

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. Section. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

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Article I, Section 03

Section. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The […]

Youth Advisory Board

  Juliette Turner National Youth Director Juliette has been able to learn from her mother’s power to prevail while sharing many of the same life interests. Juliette wrote the bestselling book Our Constitution Rocks!(HarpersCollins/Zondervan) at age 12. Our Constitution Rocks, currently in its second printing with over 50,000 copies sold, is endorsed by Former First […]

Patriot Clubs Middle

The Flag: Let’s start with the simplest symbol that every kid knows – the flag. The flag is the symbol of our nation. It’s what we identify with as Americans.  There’s great flag information and history at this site: http://www.usa-flag-site.org/history.shtml Betsy Ross, a 24-year-old widow and upholsterer, is credited for sewing the first flag in […]

Patriot Club Schools

Spring Colonial Activities for Patriot Clubs or the Classroom:                                      April Showers Bring May Flowers   Mount Vernon, home of George Washington, Montpelier, home of James Madison, and Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson all boasted beautiful gardens.  This is a perfect season to expose students to colonial life, and activities colonial children participated in […]

Patriot Club Elementary

Patriot Club News! August 2016 By Gayle Poole, Texas Patriot Club Leader & Winner, Best Short Film by an Adult, 2013 We had our fourth Patriot Club and had lots of fun learning more about our wonderful Constitution! While we waited for everyone to arrive, the kids had fun jumping on hay bales that had examples […]

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House Litigation Seeks To Defend The Constitution

On September 17, Americans will observe the 228th anniversary of the adoption and signing of the U.S. Constitution by the Constitutional Convention.  I commend Janine Turner, Cathy Gillespie and everyone associated with Constituting America for their efforts to defend our Constitution and educate people about its foundational significance.  Also, I am humbled to accept their […]

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The “Living” Constitution

Contributors to this series of articles have shown that executive branch of the United States government, cheered on by Congress and the Supreme Court and abetted by what has become a fourth branch of government—the federal bureaucracy or administrative state—has for some time almost routinely overridden the separation of powers the Framers designed for the […]

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Untried Weapons — Repairing The Tattered Remains Of A Constitution That Has Not Been Tried And Found Wanting, But That Has Been Found Difficult; And Left Untried (Part 6)

Previous essays in this series explored why the Constitution is ineffective at restraining federal officials today, and illustrated how members of the present generation must come to view their relationship to the Constitution if it is to be of service in effectively limiting federal overreach. This series now concludes by highlighting two largely untried and […]

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The Heat Is On: Global Warming And The EPA (Part 7) – Guest Essayist: Phil Kerpen

In our constitutional republic, the Congress of the United States is the legitimate legislative branch of government, charged with making the laws. A decision to adopt any national global warming program is an enormous one, with hundreds of billions of dollars and personal liberties at stake. This is simply not something that ought to be […]

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Untried Weapons — Repairing The Tattered Remains Of A Constitution That Has Not Been Tried And Found Wanting, But That Has Been Found Difficult; And Left Untried (Part 7) – Guest Essayist: David Eastman

Previous essays in this series explored why the Constitution is ineffective at restraining federal officials today, and illustrated how members of the present generation must come to view their relationship to the Constitution if it is to be of service in effectively limiting federal overreach. The most recent essay highlighted current efforts to amend the […]

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It’s Time To Let Native Americans Practice Their Faith – Guest Essayist: Kristina Arriaga

In “Federalist 51,” James Madison wrote, “In a free government the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights.” He went on to explain that for religious rights to be secure, pluralism is needed. Religious rights, he explained, “consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in […]

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The Heat Is On: Global Warming And The EPA (Part 5) – Guest Essayist: Phil Kerpen

VIEW FROM COPENHAGEN The full scope of what Obama, Browner,  and the EPA intend to do without any congressional authorization was on display at the United Nations climate conference I attended in Copenhagen in December 2009. At a side event hosted by Greenpeace called “Yes, he can! How Obama can deliver stronger emissions reductions,” the […]

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The Heat Is On: Global Warming And The EPA (Part 4) – Guest Essayist: Phil Kerpen

THE CZAR BEHIND THE CURTAIN Driving the implementation of the EPA’s massive power grabs and circumvention of the legislative branch was a key White House official who avoided Senate confirmation by being installed as White House Energy Czar: Carol Browner. The potential Senate confirmation fight Obama sidestepped by creating a czar position for Browner would […]

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The Heat Is On: Global Warming And The EPA (Part 3) – Guest Essayist: Phil Kerpen

THE TRAIN WRECK: THE EPA’S MANY WAYS TO ‘SKIN THE CAT’ Two weeks after the 2010 election and Obama’s “skin the cat” comment, a leading D.C.-based, left-wing advocacy group, the Center for American Progress,  published a 53-page report called The Power of the President: Recommendations to Advance Progressive Change, detailing a sweeping far-left agenda that […]

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Death, Taxes & Bureaucratic Overreach: The EPA’s Relentless, Unconstitutional War On Coal – Guest Essayist: Congressman Morgan Griffith

Using a phrase attributed to Benjamin Franklin, “…In this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.”  I would submit that in modern times, nothing is certain except death, taxes, and bureaucratic overreach.

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Untried Weapons – Repairing The Tattered Remains Of A Constitution That Has Not Been Tried And Found Wanting, But That Has Been Found Difficult; And Left Untried (Part 5) – Guest Essayist: David Eastman

This essay continues a series exploring briefly why the Constitution is ineffective at restraining federal officials today, and illustrates how members of the present generation must come to view their relationship to the Constitution if it is to be of service in effectively responding to federal overreach. The series will conclude by highlighting two largely […]

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Untried Weapons – Repairing The Tattered Remains Of A Constitution That Has Not Been Tried And Found Wanting, But That Has Been Found Difficult; And Left Untried (Part 4) – Guest Essayist: David Eastman

This essay continues a series exploring briefly why the Constitution is ineffective at restraining federal officials today, and illustrates how members of the present generation must come to view their relationship to the Constitution if it is to be of service in effectively responding to federal overreach. The series will conclude by highlighting two largely […]

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The Heat Is On: Global Warming And The EPA (Part 2) – Guest Essayist: Phil Kerpen

REWRITING THE CLEAN AIR ACT OF 1970: A BACK DOOR TO SOARING ENERGY PRICES Just to show you how unfazed  the Obama administration was by the political defeat of cap-and-trade, consider what’s on page 146 of Obama’s 2012 budget: ‘The administration continues to support greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the United States in the range […]

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Small Businesses Threatened With $36,500 IRS Fines For Helping Employees With Health Costs – Guest Essayist: Grace-Marie Turner

Small businesses that reimburse employees for the cost of premiums for individual health insurance policies or pay their health costs directly will be fined up to $36,500 a year per employee under a new Internal Revenue Service regulation that takes effect July 1, 2015 (article originally published June 30, 2015).

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Untried Weapons – Repairing The Tattered Remains Of A Constitution That Has Not Been Tried And Found Wanting, But That Has Been Found Difficult; And Left Untried (Part 3) – Guest Essayist: David Eastman

This essay continues a series exploring briefly why the Constitution is ineffective at restraining federal officials today, and illustrates how members of the present generation must come to view their relationship to the Constitution if it is to be of service in effectively responding to federal overreach. The series will conclude by highlighting two largely […]

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The Heat Is On: Global Warming And The EPA (Part 1) – Guest Essayist: Phil Kerpen

For decades, environmental extremists have been stymied when their doomsaying predictions collide with the reality of an ever-improving environment, driven by the enormous wealth created by our market economy. The “problem” they describe is always something different, but the “solution” is always the same: draconian restrictions on economic activity, vastly expanded government power (usually internationally), and […]

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Untried Weapons – Repairing The Tattered Remains Of A Constitution That Has Not Been Tried And Found Wanting, But That Has Been Found Difficult; And Left Untried (Part 2) – Guest Essayist: David Eastman

This essay continues a series exploring briefly why the Constitution is ineffective at constraining federal officials today, and highlighting two largely untried and fundamentally different approaches to restoring constitutional constraints, both of which claim support from the Constitution and America’s Founding Fathers. The Constitution in Tatters As a document setting effective limits on the power […]

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Untried Weapons – Repairing The Tattered Remains Of A Constitution That Has Not Been Tried And Found Wanting, But That Has Been Found Difficult; And Left Untried (Part 1)* – Guest Essayist: David Eastman

This essay is the first in a series inspired by federal overreach in Alaska. The series explores briefly why the Constitution is ineffective at constraining federal officials today, and evaluates two largely untried and fundamentally different approaches to restoring constitutional constraints; issue– based legislative accountability and a convention of states to amend the United States […]

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Saxton v. FHFA – Have FHFA And The Treasury Exceeded Their Limited Authority Under HERA? – Guest Essayist: Logan Beirne

Earlier this month, a new front was opened in the legal campaign by investors against the federal government’s (mis)management of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In the latest salvo, Saxton v. Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA), individual investors from Iowa filed suit to stop the government from syphoning private property into the U.S. Treasury’s […]

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Immigration Reform And Executive Orders: Imperfect Together – Guest Essayist: Will Morrisey

Properly used, executive orders form an indispensable part of any government, including our own. If Congress passes a law and the president signs it, the president undertakes a Constitutional obligation to execute the law.  In so doing, he is likely to need to tell his administrators what to do and, at least to some extent, […]

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What’s In a Name? The Controversy over the Washington Redskins – Guest Essayist: Tony Williams

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the progressives created numerous agencies in the executive branch of government that were supposed to bring more rationality, efficiency, and order to American society.  They were to be run by scientific experts who would oversee a civil service bureaucracy that would govern objectivity as they made decisions […]

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Another ACA Treasury Regulation That Lacks Statutory Authority – Guest Essayist: Grace-Marie Turner

New research about implementation of the Affordable Care Act finds that Obama administration regulations are allowing taxpayer subsidized health insurance for some people earning less than the statutory income floor and also for unlawful immigrants.

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‘Forced Sale’ Of Drugs Could Endanger Patient Safety – Guest Essayist: Grace-Marie Turner

Any “forced sale” of products would also be constitutionally questionable as an unprecedented intrusion into the marketplace because the government would be compelling a commercial transaction that does not involve a willing seller and a willing buyer.  The innovator company could even face liability if patients were harmed by a drug provided to them by […]

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Examining The Use Of Administrative Actions In The Implementation Of The Affordable Care Act – Guest Essayist: Grace-Marie Turner

Companies inside and outside the health sector have spent countless billions of dollars trying to comply with the ACA. When the administration makes what some call “minor temporary course corrections,” it causes a new cascade of disruption and expenses for companies and makes it even harder for them to comply not only with the law […]

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The Supreme Court: Paving The Way For Executive Branch Overreach – Guest Essayist: Elliot Engstrom

Last week, the United States Supreme Court once again opted not to rule a key provision of the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. The case at issue, King v. Burwell, was technically not a challenge to the Affordable Care Act itself but rather the IRS’s implementation of the Act.

The Supreme Court: Paving The Way For Executive Branch Overreach – Guest Essayist: Elliot Engstrom

Last week, the United States Supreme Court once again opted not to rule a key provision of the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. The case at issue, King v. Burwell, was technically not a challenge to the Affordable Care Act itself but rather the IRS’s implementation of the Act.   “In a democracy,” Chief Justice Roberts […]

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Judicial Activism Rescues Obamacare

The Supreme Court has been in the news this week and Justice John Roberts has been thrust into the spotlight because he authored the majority opinion in King v. Burwell.  In it, Roberts and the Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, i.e. Obamacare. This is no ordinary decision, though.  The court’s ruling […]

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What Would George Washington Say About The U.S. Now? – Guest Essayist: Logan Beirne

The below was originally published in FoxNews.com Opinion July 4, 2013 We have strayed from the path our Founders forged 237 years ago. Under the Constitutional Republic they created after the Revolutionary War, the United States has prospered over the centuries beyond the founding generation’s wildest dreams; however, we are wandering further from those very […]

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Real Possibility Of A Federal Takeover Of Elections: The Role Of The U.S. Department Of Justice Aiding And Abetting Progressive Organizations To Weaken States’ Voting Laws – Guest Essayist: Catherine Engelbrecht

Executive Overreach in American Elections Perhaps one of my favorite cultural artifacts from the 1990s was those Magic Eye prints you could find in gift shops just about anywhere. They might look like a random assortment of colorful dots – but with a trained eye, images would practically spring forth from the frame. Sometimes executive […]

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Dear Mr. President – Guest Essayist: Logan Beirne

This Constituting America study focuses on executive overreach and presidents’ potential violation of our Constitution’s separation of powers. On the other end of the spectrum, executive inaction can likewise threaten American principles. This essay focuses on President Obama’s failure to stand up for one particularly cherished American principle: freedom of speech.   The threats posed both by […]

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Who’s To Blame For Presidential Overreach? We Are – Guest Essayist: Byron Schlomach

Much has been made in recent years about the abuse of presidential power. There is no shortage of recent examples to show that this is a legitimate concern. However, this is not entirely the fault of the current administration. Instead, the fault lies with the American people and the other branches of government that have […]

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Common Core: All Too Common Overreach – Guest Essayist: Cynthia Dunbar

The three branches of the United States government are the Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The U. S. Constitution lays out the power and authority of each of these separate branches. It is important to note that the powers given to each branch are unique and separate and do not overlap or invade the authority of […]

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Fear Of An Overly Powerful Executive? As American As Apple Pie – Guest Essayist: James D. Best

Americans abhor politicians who gather up inordinate powers. At least, that used to be the case. From our Revolution forward, Americans remained wary of any officeholder who tried to maneuver around constitutional limits. This was especially true if the trespasser happened to be a president.

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Undemocratic: How Unelected, Unaccountable Bureaucrats Are Stealing Your Liberty and Freedom (Part 6) – Guest Essayist: Jay Sekulow

During the Watergate scandal, the press went into a veritable feeding frenzy when the Nixon White House reported that slightly more than eighteen minutes of tape recordings of a key conversation between President Richard Nixon and his chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman, were erased. The Nixon White House claimed it was an accident. This […]

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Undemocratic: How Unelected, Unaccountable Bureaucrats Are Stealing Your Liberty and Freedom (Part 5) – Guest Essayist: Jay Sekulow

Imagine you approach a Hollywood executive with the following script idea: A powerful federal agency goes rogue. It targets political opponents with extraordinary investigations, targets opponents for audits, tries to throw opponents in jail, targets politicians who try to investigate its wrongdoing, and even attempts to monitor the prayers of the faithful. Then, just when […]

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Why Are TPA And TPP Being Referred To As Obamatrade? – Guest Essayist: Nancy Salvato

In an article by Connor Wolf called This Is The Difference Between TPP And TPA (Hint: They Are Not The Same Thing), he explains that these two bills are linked together because Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) is a means to fast track passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).  I am confused by this line of […]

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Stopping The Usurpation Of Advice And Consent – Guest Essayist: Scot Faulkner

June 28, 2014 is an historic day in thwarting Presidential over-reach. On that day the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled President Obama’s recess appointments unconstitutional. NLRB versus Noel Canning, ET AL was a rare instance when the Judicial Branch acted as referee and reset the balance of power between the Executive and Legislative Branches.

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When Waters Aren’t Waters At All: Executive Branch Over-Reaching And Federal Land Use Controls (Part 2) – Guest Essayist: Andrew Langer

Waters, Regulation, And Political “Sleight Of Hand” At its most-basic level, sleight-of-hand is the art of performed misdirection.  A magician gets an audience to focus their attention on something shiny he is holding in one hand, distracting you from the trick he is attempting behind his back.  If successful, the audience is fooled into thinking […]

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When Waters Aren’t Waters At All: Executive Branch Over-Reaching And Federal Land Use Controls (Part 1) – Guest Essayist: Andrew Langer

How We Got Here There is a truism when it comes to the power of the federal executive branch: over time, the power of that branch grows.

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How the Federalists Viewed Human Nature And Its Impact on the Resulting Government System In the United States of America (Part 2) – Guest Essayist: Amy Zewe

The balance to solve the problems inherent in past democracies are addressed in the Federalist Papers. One topic that takes precedent is the idea of popular sovereignty and its dangers that can result in the tyranny of the majority. Whereas most Founders would agree that man is rational and capable of solving problems through reason, […]

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How the Federalists Viewed Human Nature And Its Impact on the Resulting Government System In the United States of America (Part 1) – Guest Essayist: Amy Zewe

The founding fathers, particularly the writers of the Federalist Papers, were well versed in the classics, Greek literature, historical records of successes and failures of governments, and the political theorists of their era. The Founders’ views of human nature are the basis upon which they created a democratic republic such as they did in America. […]

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Undemocratic: How Unelected, Unaccountable Bureaucrats Are Stealing Your Liberty and Freedom (Part 4) – Guest Essayist: Jay Sekulow

The IRS seems to be replacing “tax collection” with “oppression and censorship” as a key part of its agency mission statement.

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Immigration Reform By Pen? – Guest Essayist: Tony Williams

The cliché that America is a “nation of immigrants” is true as successive waves of immigrants throughout its history came to this country for its freedoms and opportunity.  The Statue of Liberty symbolically welcomes immigrants to America.  Over the past 150 years, American immigration policy has alternated between restriction and liberalization.  But, whatever vacillating nature […]

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Undemocratic: How Unelected, Unaccountable Bureaucrats Are Stealing Your Liberty and Freedom (Part 3) – Guest Essayist: Jay Sekulow

In late May 2013, we’d seen enough. We filed a lawsuit, the largest in ACLJ history.21 Ultimately including forty-one conservative and pro-life organizations in twenty-two states, it represented a comprehensive attack on the IRS targeting scheme and laid out in detail the consequences of the IRS’s misconduct. The ACLJ filed its case with the following understanding:

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An Underhanded Usurpation Of Popular Sovereignty – Guest Essayist: Nancy Salvato

Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Independence

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Department Of Education Power Grab: The “Opt Out” Debate – Guest Essayist: Elliot Engstrom

In communities across America, parents and students are increasingly opting out of onerous standardized tests being pushed by the Department of Education. These assessments, which are directly related to both Common Core and No Child Left Behind, often put young children in high-pressure testing situations for hours on end. In fact, the length of some […]

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Undemocratic: How Unelected, Unaccountable Bureaucrats Are Stealing Your Liberty and Freedom (Part 2) – Guest Essayist: Jay Sekulow

“Let’s translate: when evaluating progressive organizations, the IRS singled out only seven groups for additional scrutiny, asked an average of only 4.7 additional questions, and approved every single group. By contrast, the IRS singled out 104 conservative groups, asked an average of 14.9 additional questions (some with multiple subparts), and ultimately approved fewer than half,” […]

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Undemocratic: How Unelected, Unaccountable Bureaucrats Are Stealing Your Liberty and Freedom (Part 1) – Guest Essayist: Jay Sekulow

By early 2010, two developments were shaking American liberals to their core. The first was the rise of the Tea Party; the second was a Supreme Court case that protected the right of free political speech.

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Executive Overreach And Its Effect On The Constitution’s Structural Safeguards Of Liberty – Guest Essayist: Professor Joerg Knipprath

A t-shirt I saw recently embodies the ultimate justification for parental authority, “I’m the Dad, That’s Why.” Of course, substituting “Mom” works, as well. President Obama’s claims of executive authority to act when Congress fails to enact his vision about immigration matters, Obamacare, or the environment, similarly appears to be, “I’m the President, that’s why.” […]

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Implementing The Affordable Care Act: The Executive Branch’s Liberties With Statutory Language – Guest Essayist: Grace-Marie Turner

The Obama administration has spent billions of taxpayer dollars implementing the Affordable Care Act, often taking vast liberties with statutory language.  The administration’s actions were the subject of a House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, chaired by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL).

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The Constitutional Tools Of Foreign Relations – Guest Essayist: Professor Joerg Knipprath

When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, much was made in the press of the perception that this event reflected voters’ fatigue with foreign entanglements and a turning inward to domestic issues. While there is truth to that, events are not controlled by voters’ sentiments and have a way of upsetting comfortable delusions. It might […]

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Presidential Power And The “Nuclear Deal” With Iran – Guest Essayist: Joerg Knipprath

One of the most controversial recent presidential actions is the Obama administration’s desire to enter a “nuclear deal” with Iran. To prod Iran into an agreement that he appears desperately to want, President Obama intends to waive sanctions imposed under earlier legislation and executive action. As shown by an open letter to the Iranian government […]

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A Memorial Day Message by Constituting America Founder & Co-Chair Janine Turner

Constituting America first published this message from Founder & Co-Chair Janine Turner over Memorial Day Weekend, 2010, the inaugural year of our organization.  We are pleased to share it with you again, as we celebrate our 5th birthday!  On this Memorial Day weekend, I think it is appropriate to truly contemplate and think about the […]

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Common Core: Federal Overreach Into A State Issue – Guest Essayist: Hadley Heath Manning

The words “education,” “schools,” and “curriculum” do not appear in the U.S. Constitution or any Amendments.  This is not to say the Founders were not supportive of public education. Many of them, most notably Thomas Jefferson, wrote in support of the concept because they believed that, “an educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our […]

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What Government By “The Consent Of The Governed” Looks Like – Guest Essayist: Brion McClanahan

The only way for the United States to wrestle the reins of power from the general government is a renaissance of State powers as codified by the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.  Only then will we have true government by the “consent of the governed.” 

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The Executive Branch’s Growing Disrespect For Administrative Due Process – Guest Essayist: Lawrence J. Spiwak

Given the pervasiveness of regulation over the American economy, ensuring procedural due process for all Americans wishing to participate in both adjudications and rulemakings before administrative agencies is no easy task.  Indeed, unlike Congress—which is a political institution specifically designed by the Founding Fathers to promulgate laws based on the will of the people—an administrative […]

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Stop Using The IRS As A Bludgeon – Guest Essayist: James D. Best

American citizens should never fear their own government. It’s Un-American. The Declaration of Independence directed our Founders to organize government powers “in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” We should be able to go to bed at night feeling safe from hostile pounding on the door. […]

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The Regulatory State: Beyond The Founder’s Vision – Guest Essayist: Peter Roff

Among the things we have to thank the French for is the invention of the bureaucracy, which more than one dictionary defines as a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives.

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Guess How Many Changes President Obama Has Unilaterally Made To The Affordable Care Act? A Running List! – Guest Essayists: Tyler Hartsfield And Grace-Marie Turner

By our count at the Galen Institute, more than 49 significant changes already have been made to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: at least 30 that President Obama has made unilaterally, 17 that Congress has passed and the president has signed, and 2 by the Supreme Court.

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Operation Choke Point: Agencies Getting Around The Constitution’s Protections – Guest Essayist: Andrew Langer

“The Constitution protects us from our own best intentions. It divides power among sovereigns and among branches of government precisely, so that we might resist the temptation to concentrate power in one branch as the expedient solution to the crisis of the day.”

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The Inevitability of Executive Overreach – Guest Essayist: Kyle Scott

George Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality, Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase, Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, invasion of the South, and suspension of habeas corpus, Harry S. Truman’s railroad seizures, and the growth of militarism domestically and internationally by George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama are all examples of executive overreach; examples of when the President used […]

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The Most Effectual Weapon Against Executive Overreach: The Power Of The Purse – Guest Essayist: Senator Mike Lee

In addition to the power to enact important reforms like the REINS Act and the USA Freedom Act, Congress has another time-honored power to exercise when it needs to stop an overreaching executive. It is a power wielded far too infrequently in recent years. And it is a power that James Madison described in Federalist […]

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America On The Brink Of Losing Constitutional Form Of Government Forever – Guest Essayist: Phil Kerpen

The rule of law is in grave danger, as federal regulators use ever thinner legal pretexts to enable vast public policy changes without votes by our elected representatives.  In a span of just seven days, (essay originally published on March 5, 2015) the FCC declared the Internet a public utility, Congress acceded to DHS implementing […]

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What Happens When The Executive Branch Tries To Make Law: The Evolution Of The Contraceptive Mandate And The “Accommodations” That Failed To Respect Protected Conscience Rights – Guest Essayist: Steven H. Aden

One Saturday morning a month, I take my eight-year-old son and my seven-year-old daughter to the neighborhood big-box hardware store for “Kid’s Craft Day.” They get an apron to wear and an assemble-it-yourself kit with instructions for building a flower pot rack or a wooden photo frame. For an hour, they get to pound nails, […]

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Congress’ Communication Breakdown – Guest Essayist: Scot Faulkner

The world where House and Senate Chambers are packed with Members attentively listening to their colleagues ended long before films like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “Advise and Consent” paid it homage.

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King V. Burwell: Finding A Path Forward After An Executive Overreach – Guest Essayist: Grace Marie Turner

The Supreme Court justices had a lively discussion yesterday (essay originally published March 5, 2015) during arguments in King v. Burwell about who Congress intended to get health insurance subsidies and under what conditions.

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What James Madison Teaches Us About NSA Surveillance – Guest Essayist: Logan Beirne

A federal district judge ruled on Monday (essay originally published December 18, 2013) that the National Security Agency program tracking all Americans’ phone calls is “probably unconstitutional.” In Klayman v. Obama, Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that “such a program infringes on ‘the degree of privacy’ that […]

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President Obama’s Drone Policy Could Benefit From General Washington’s Wisdom – Guest Essayist: Logan Beirne

Are drones coming home to roost? Last week (essay originally published May 30, 2013), President Obama announced his administration’s counterterrorism policy. The question is, will this policy defend our liberties — or destroy them?

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How Can Words On Parchment Constrain Executive Overreach? Guest Essayist: James D. Best

“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”  The Declaration of Independence used these words to legitimize our founding as a nation. Fifteen simple words, but they embodied a world-shattering idea. Kings supposedly derived their authority from God, but the Declaration declared that “all men are created equal, […]

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Congress Shall Make No Law – Encroaching On The First Amendment – Guest Essayist: Peter Roff

On the subject of free speech the founders could not have been clearer. When they wrote that “Congress shall make no law” inhibiting its exercise or that of freedom of the press they were quite specific.

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Do You Know How Many Wars Congress Has Formally Declared War In? HINT: It’s Fewer Than You Think – Guest Essayist: Tony Williams

On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and killed 2,500 American servicemen.  Japan’s ally, Germany, followed up the attack by declaring war on the United States.  Just after noon on the following day President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the shocked members of Congress and told them that the sneak attack was a “date which […]

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Power To The Regulators! – Guest Essayist: James D. Best

The Founders believed that consolidating executive, legislative, and judicial powers would threaten liberty, so to avoid this tragedy, they built our constitutional framework with checks and balances. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, wrote in Federalist 47 that “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, […]

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How Did Executive Overreach Come About? How Was It Excused? Woodrow Wilson’s Role…. – Guest Essayist: Professor Will Morrisey

In late January 1904 the president of Princeton University stepped to the podium of The Outlook Club in Montclair, New Jersey. Today, university presidents get into the news when some scandal erupts, but at the beginning of the last century they often enjoyed the status of what we now call “public intellectuals”—frequently quoted in the […]

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From President Bush’s Iraq Invasion & Patriot Act to President Obama’s Immigration Amnesty & Minimum Wage Hike: The Roots of Executive Overreach in Lincoln & Roosevelt’s Administrations – Guest Essayist: Paul Schwennesen

Oh, how we fret!  Rightfully, of course, for nothing is more frightening to the American Mind than the specter of overweening authority.  During the second Bush Administration, the Left was beside itself with concern over executive overreach (from the Iraq invasion to the Patriot Act) and now, during the Obama Administration, the Right is beside […]

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Can Congress Stop Federal Agencies From Running Riot Over Your Liberties? Yes. – Guest Essayist: George Landrith

News reports of federal agencies abusing the rights of Americans and violating the law have become all too common. It is no longer plausible for defenders of big government to argue that these abuses are simply a few isolated incidents. We have witnessed a veritable parade of lawless abuses from all corners of the federal […]

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The Geneva College Case: Edelweiss and Rights of Conscience Today– Guest Essayist: Kevin Theriot

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of The Sound of Music, a sweet love story built around the somewhat grittier sub-plot of Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria in the late 1930s. The movie is actually based on the true story of an Austrian naval hero – Captain Georg von Trapp – who […]

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The Imperial Obama Presidency and the Demise of Checks and Balances – Guest Essayist: U.S. Senator Ted Cruz

Under President Obama, America has witnessed an unprecedented expansion of presidential power.  This is not merely the observation of political opponents.  Liberal law professor Jonathan Turley—who voted for President Obama—has reached the same conclusion:  “We are seeing the emergence of a different model of government in our country—a model long ago rejected by the Framers.”[1]  […]

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Federalism On Life Support: The Affordable Care Act And How It Affects You – Guest Essayist: Troy Kickler

Criticism abounds regarding President Barack Obama and executive overreach. To name one example, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as “Obamacare,” has raised the ire of many Americans. Expansive government and centralized approaches to political issues, admittedly, started before the Obama administration, but current executive overreach has accelerated the size of the national government […]

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How Executive Overreach Affects Your Liberties – Guest Essayist: James Legee

Executive overreach often refers to the growth of the administrative state beneath the President, and whether it has grown beyond the Constitutional limits meant to ensure checks and balances, and protect the liberty of the people.  When discussed in the media, among academics, and at dinner tables and coffee shops around the United States, attention […]

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The IRS’ Reach Into Political Speech – Guest Essayist: Andrew Langer

The power to tax is the power to destroy. When Justice Marshall wrote these words in 1819 (echoing the words of Daniel Webster) he was expressing what could be considered a prophetic statement–those who have the power to tax wield enormous power over everyday lives, power that is apt to be abused. This mistrust of […]

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To Rein In Spending, Congress Must Act – Guest Essayist: Scot Faulkner

Expanding Presidential power usually erodes democracy, expands government, and facilitates the rise of an increasingly unaccountable “Imperial Presidency”.  Ironically, giving Presidents more power to control spending does just the opposite. The struggle over government spending has been a fundamental point of contention since the earliest days of our Federal Government.  In the last twenty years, […]

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Why The U.S. House Is Suing The Obama Administration – Guest Essayist: Hadley Heath Manning

Articles I, II, and III of the Constitution describe the roles of the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches of the federal government. It’s clear that the Founders intended for Congress to make the laws, the administration to enforce the laws, and the courts to interpret the laws.  Although this doctrine of Separation of Powers sounds […]

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Could a President Take Over The Coal Industry? It Happened With The Steel Industry And Congress Did Nothing – Guest Essayist: Professor Joerg Knipprath

As introduced in the previous post, the 1952 Steel Seizure Case is a cornerstone of the Court’s separation of powers jurisprudence. The case arose out of President Harry Truman’s decision to seize the steel mills to prevent a labor strike that, he claimed, threatened steel production for the war effort in Korea. The Court was […]

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This Week, 63 Years Ago-April 8, 1952: Truman Seizes Control of the Steel Industry by Executive Order-What Did the Supreme Court Decide & Why? Part I – Guest Essayist: Professor Joerg Knipprath

Separation Of Powers Case: Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (Part 1) When the Supreme Court addresses constitutional aspects of executive “overreach,” it often does so in the context of a clash between the President relying on a broad reading of his constitutional powers and the Congress attempting to limit those powers through the […]

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James Madison Would Have Said Balanced And Checked – Guest Essayist: James D. Best

The phrase checks and balances has become so commonplace that it is often spoken as if it were a single word, but in the eighteen century, it was two distinct concepts. John Adams may have been the first to put the words checks and balances together in that order in his 1787 publication, A Defense […]

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Why Separate Government Powers? – Guest Essayist: James D. Best

Concentrated political power frightened the Founders. They especially feared unrestrained executive power. In fact, some of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention fought for a weak executive because history had been a continuous stream of kings and rulers supplanting legislative bodies. Despite misgivings, James Madison convinced the delegates that balanced power with effective checks was […]

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Is The Pending Deal With Iran Over Its Nuclear Program A Treaty – Or Not? – Guest Essayist: Colin Hanna

Is the pending deal with Iran over its nuclear program a treaty – or not?  What powers does the Constitution give the President, and what powers does it give the Senate? There are three places in the Constitution that address treaties with other nations.  The first is the most relevant to this discussion.  It is […]

Announcing Our Upcoming 90 Day Study – Launching Monday, April 6

Constitutional Crisis – How Executive Overreach is Impeding Your Liberties and Undermining States’ Sovereignty: A Study on the Critical Erosion of Constitutional Checks and Balances. This year’s 90 Day Essay Study will focus on examples of the dramatic expansion of executive branch power at the expense of both Congress and states’ sovereignty – and explain why […]

Set Up A Google Hangout/Skype Session Or “In Person” Speech With a Movie Star!

Are you looking for a fun way to get your students excited to learn about the U.S. Constitution? Constituting America founder and co-chair, Actress Janine Turner (Northern Exposure, Cliffhanger, Friday Night Lights), joined by Constituting America National Youth Director Juliette Turner and/or one or more of our“We The Future” student contest winners, will speak to […]

Constituting America’s Awards

  Announcing Lexi Lassiter, 2015 Winner: Turner Maurice Gauntt Jr. Exemplary Citizen Award  Alexis Lassiter is a remarkable young woman whose high school attributes, achievements and character mirror those of Turner Maurice Gauntt, Jr.’s. Lassiter, a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, is pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering in addition to completing the […]

Constitution Day is Coming Soon!

SAVE THE DATE: SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 FOR CONSTITUTION DAY! ATTN: TEACHERS OF BAND, FILM, ENGLISH, DRAMA, HISTORY, DEBATE & SPEECH! We want to LAUNCH CAREERS in FILM, MUSIC, JOURNALISM & GOVT.SERVICE! with non-partisan Constitutional Fortitude Constituting America’s 2014 We the Future Contest entry deadline has been extended to September 17, 2014! There is still time for […]

Constituting America’s Impact Statement

DOWNLOAD THE IMPACT STATEMENT HERE OUR MISSION Constituting America’s mission is to utilize the culture and multi-media outreach such as music, film, internet, and social media to reach, educate and inform America’s adults and students about the importance of the U.S. Constitution and the foundation it sets forth regarding our freedoms and rights. Our multi-tiered […]

Interactive Constitution: Live!

Interactive Constitution: Live Where Your Student Body Interacts with a Bi-Partisan Political Panel Contact Constituting America at constitutingamerica@yahoo.com or (888) 937-0917 to book your school now! Dear Educator, Kids are Bored with Speakers I am pleased to announce the premiere of my foundation, Constituting America’s, special and one of a kind new lecture series, “The […]

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Answer for Monday, April 7, 2014

Congratulations to Monday’s Winner: Scott Smith “Our Constitution Rocks” Book Winner & Raffle Entry Winner!    Monday’s Question Was: In her essay on Federalist 31, Constituting America Founder and Co-chair Janine Turner highlights several quotes from Alexander Hamilton. What is the first Hamilton quote Janine cites? Extra credit: add your thoughts on how this quote […]

Constitution Archives Quiz – Monday, April 7, 2014

Use the Constitution Archives Search Box at Top Right of the Homepage to Answer Today’s Question. Click Here  for More Contest Rules & Information In her essay on Federalist 31, Constituting America Founder and Co-chair Janine Turner highlights several quotes from Alexander Hamilton. What is the first Hamilton quote Janine cites? Extra credit: add your thoughts […]

Answer for Thursday, April 3, 2014 Quiz Question

Congratulations to Thursday’s Winner: “Our Constitution Rocks” Book Winner & Raffle Entry Winners:    David Weakland Marvin Watts Honorable Mention: Jill Mayfield Thursday’s Question Was: In her essay on Federalist 48, Janine Turner points out a quote from Thomas Jefferson, as very relevant today. What is the quote? Thursday’s Answer Was: “A great number of […]

Answer for Friday, March 28, 2014 Quiz Question

Congratulations to Friday’s Winners: First Place, Raffle Drawing Winner: Phil Tolbert “Our Constitution Rocks” Book Winner:  Edward Nowacki Honorable Mention: Tammy Darling Friday’s Question Was: Allison Hayward wrote in her essay on Federalist No. 15 that Hamilton spoke of troubles for the country because the “present configuration is inadequate to the task.”  She explained that […]

Answer for Wednesday, March 26, 2014 Quiz Question

Congratulations to Wednesday’s Winners: Phil Tobert (entered in raffle) Joe Ping (wins “Our Constitution Rocks & entered in raffle)  Wednesday’s Question: In his essay on The Emancipation Proclamation, Scot Faulkner stated that President Abraham Lincoln achieved “an historical trifecta.”  What three things did President Lincoln do to accomplish this? The Answer to Wednesday’s Question was:  […]

Constitution Archives Quiz – Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Use the Constitution Archives Search Box at Top Right of the Homepage to Answer Today’s Question. Click Here  for More Contest Rules & Information Question for Wednesday, March 26: In his essay on The Emancipation Proclamation, Scot Faulkner stated that President Abraham Lincoln achieved “an historical trifecta.”  What three things did President Lincoln do to accomplish […]

Answer for Monday, March 24, 2014 Quiz Question

Congratulations to Monday’s Winners: Phil Tolbert (raffle entry) Jim Brown (“Our Constitution Rocks” book) David Schroeder (Facebook Winner, “Our Constitution Rocks” book) Honorable Mention: David Click Here for Monday’s Question The Answer to Monday’s Question Was:   “Feed the weakness, starve the heart Watch the soul regress Rhyme and reason take their toll Happy opportune the guess.”

Answers for Monday, March 17, 2014 Quiz Question

Congratulations to Monday’s Winners: Jahanara Hoque – multiple winner, entered in raffle Chris Shollenberger – wins an “Our Constitution Rocks” book and raffle entry!  Doug Cook – Honorable mention for his thorough answer! – wins “Our Constitution Rocks” book and raffle entry!  Click Here for Monday’s Question The Answer to Monday’s Question Was: The movement to abolish […]

Answers for Monday March 10 Quiz Question

Click Here for Contest Rules and Information Click Here for Monday’s Question Congratulations to Monday’s Winners: Spencer Kawalek Ja’Lisha Urquhart Tina Bogani Jahanara Hoque Ron Meier The Possible Answers to Monday’s Question Were: “In this spirit it may be remarked, that the equal vote allowed to each state, is at once a constitutional recognition of […]

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Article I, Section 03, Clause 2

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and […]

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Article I, Section 03, Clause 4-5

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United […]

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Article I, Section 03, Clause 6-7

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Judgment in […]

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Article I, Section 4, Clause 1-2

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and […]

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Article I, Section 05, Clause 1

Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such […]

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Article I, Section 05, Clause 3-4

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the […]

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Article I, Section 06, Clause 1

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in […]

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Article 1, Section 06, Clause 2

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a […]

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Article I, Section 07, Clause 2

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who […]

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Article I, Section 07, Clause 3

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed […]

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Article I, Section 08

Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow Money on the credit of the United […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 01

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 10-13

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 14-16

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 17

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the […]

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Article I, Section 09

Section. 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each […]

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Article I, Section 09, Clause 1

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

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Article I, Section 09, Clause 4-6

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those […]

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Article I, Section 09, Clause 8

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

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Article I, Section 10, Clause 1

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any […]

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Article I, Section 10, Clause 2

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of […]

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Article I, Section 10, Clause 3

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

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Article II

Article. II. Section. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 2

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 3

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 5

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 6

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 7

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 8

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

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Article II, Section 2

Section. 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any […]

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Article II, Section 2, Clause 1

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating […]

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Article II, Section 2, Clause 2

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all […]

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Article II, Section 3

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time […]

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Article III

Article III. Section. 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, […]

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Article III, Section 1

The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services […]

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Article III, Section 2, Clause 1

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;–to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;–to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;–to Controversies to which the United States […]

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Article III, Section 2, Clause 2

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the […]

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Article III, Section 2, Clause 3

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

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Article III, Section 3

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to […]

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Article IV

Article. IV. Section. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. Section. 2. The Citizens of […]

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Article IV, Section 2

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he […]

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Article IV, Section 3

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as […]

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Article V

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this […]

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Article VI

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the […]

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Article VII

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same. The Word, “the,” being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, the Word “Thirty” being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first […]

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Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

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Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

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Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject […]

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Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be […]

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Amendment VII

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

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Amendment XI

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. Passed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified February 7, 1795. Note: Article […]

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Amendment XII

The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and […]

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Amendment XIII

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December […]

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Amendment XIV

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State […]

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Amendment XV

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude– Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Passed by Congress February […]

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Amendment XVI

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913. Note: Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 16.  

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Amendment XVII

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. When vacancies happen in […]

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Amendment XVIII

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall […]

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Amendment XIX

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.

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Amendment XX

Section 1. The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the […]

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Federalist No. 1

General Introduction For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: AFTER an unequivocal experience of the inefficiency of the subsisting federal government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America. The subject speaks its own importance; comprehending in its […]

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Federalist No. 2

Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence For the Independent Journal. Author: John Jay To the People of the State of New York: WHEN the people of America reflect that they are now called upon to decide a question, which, in its consequences, must prove one of the most important that ever engaged their attention, the […]

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Federalist No. 3

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers From Foreign Force and Influence For the Independent Journal. Author: John Jay To the People of the State of New York: IT IS not a new observation that the people of any country (if, like the Americans, intelligent and wellinformed) seldom adopt and steadily persevere for many years in an […]

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Federalist No. 4

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence For the Independent Journal. Author: John Jay To the People of the State of New York: MY LAST paper assigned several reasons why the safety of the people would be best secured by union against the danger it may be exposed to by JUST causes […]

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Federalist No. 5

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence For the Independent Journal. Author: John Jay To the People of the State of New York: QUEEN ANNE, in her letter of the 1st July, 1706, to the Scotch Parliament, makes some observations on the importance of the UNION then forming between England and Scotland, […]

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Federalist No. 6

Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE three last numbers of this paper have been dedicated to an enumeration of the dangers to which we should be exposed, in a state of disunion, from the arms and arts of […]

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Federalist No. 7

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: IT IS sometimes asked, with an air of seeming triumph, what inducements could the States have, if disunited, to make war upon each other? It would be a full […]

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Federalist No. 8

The Consequences of Hostilities Between the States From the New York Packet. Tuesday, November 20, 1787. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: ASSUMING it therefore as an established truth that the several States, in case of disunion, or such combinations of them as might happen to be formed out of […]

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Federalist No. 9

The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: A FIRM Union will be of the utmost moment to the peace and liberty of the States, as a barrier against domestic faction and insurrection. It is impossible to read […]

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Federalist No. 10

The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection From the New York Packet. Friday, November 23, 1787. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: AMONG the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break […]

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Federalist No. 11

The Utility of the Union in Respect to Commercial Relations and a Navy For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE importance of the Union, in a commercial light, is one of those points about which there is least room to entertain a difference of opinion, and […]

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Federalist No. 12

The Utility of the Union In Respect to Revenue From the New York Packet. Tuesday, November 27, 1787. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE effects of Union upon the commercial prosperity of the States have been sufficiently delineated. Its tendency to promote the interests of revenue will be the […]

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Federalist No. 13

Advantage of the Union in Respect to Economy in Government For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: As CONNECTED with the subject of revenue, we may with propriety consider that of economy. The money saved from one object may be usefully applied to another, and there will […]

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Federalist No. 14

Objections to the Proposed Constitution From Extent of Territory Answered From the New York Packet. Friday, November 30, 1787. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: WE HAVE seen the necessity of the Union, as our bulwark against foreign danger, as the conservator of peace among ourselves, as the guardian of […]

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Federalist No. 15

The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: IN THE course of the preceding papers, I have endeavored, my fellow-citizens, to place before you, in a clear and convincing light, the importance of Union to your political safety […]

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Federalist No. 16

The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union From the New York Packet. Tuesday, December 4, 1787. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE tendency of the principle of legislation for States, or communities, in their political capacities, as it has been exemplified by […]

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Federalist No. 17

The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union For the Independent Journal. Tuesday, December 4, 1787. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: AN OBJECTION, of a nature different from that which has been stated and answered, in my last address, may perhaps be likewise […]

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Federalist No. 18

The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton and James Madison To the People of the State of New York: AMONG the confederacies of antiquity, the most considerable was that of the Grecian republics, associated under the Amphictyonic council. From the best accounts transmitted of […]

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Federalist No. 19

The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton and James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE examples of ancient confederacies, cited in my last paper, have not exhausted the source of experimental instruction on this subject. There are existing institutions, […]

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Federalist No. 20

The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union From the New York Packet. Tuesday, December 11, 1787. Author: Alexander Hamilton and James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE United Netherlands are a confederacy of republics, or rather of aristocracies of a very remarkable texture, yet confirming all […]

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Federalist No. 21

Other Defects of the Present Confederation For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: HAVING in the three last numbers taken a summary review of the principal circumstances and events which have depicted the genius and fate of other confederate governments, I shall now proceed in the enumeration […]

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Federalist No. 22

The Same Subject Continued: Other Defects of the Present Confederation From the New York Packet. Friday, December 14, 1787. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: IN ADDITION to the defects already enumerated in the existing federal system, there are others of not less importance, which concur in rendering it altogether […]

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Federalist No. 23

The Necessity of a Government as Energetic as the One Proposed to the Preservation of the Union From the New York Packet. Tuesday, December 18, 1787. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE necessity of a Constitution, at least equally energetic with the one proposed, to the preservation of the […]

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Federalist No. 24

The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: To THE powers proposed to be conferred upon the federal government, in respect to the creation and direction of the national forces, I have met with but one specific objection, which, […]

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Federalist No. 25

The Same Subject Continued: The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered From the New York Packet. Friday, December 21, 1787. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: IT MAY perhaps be urged that the objects enumerated in the preceding number ought to be provided for by the State governments, […]

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Federalist No. 26

The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: IT WAS a thing hardly to be expected that in a popular revolution the minds of men should stop at that happy mean which marks the […]

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Federalist No. 27

The Same Subject Continued: The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered From the New York Packet. Tuesday, December 25, 1787. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: IT HAS been urged, in different shapes, that a Constitution of the kind proposed by the convention […]

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Federalist No. 28

The Same Subject Continued: The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THAT there may happen cases in which the national government may be necessitated to resort to force, cannot be denied. Our own […]

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Federalist No. 29

Concerning the Militia From the Daily Advertiser. Thursday, January 10, 1788 Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE power of regulating the militia, and of commanding its services in times of insurrection and invasion are natural incidents to the duties of superintending the common defense, and of watching over the […]

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Federalist No. 30

Concerning the General Power of Taxation From the New York Packet. Friday, December 28, 1787. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: IT HAS been already observed that the federal government ought to possess the power of providing for the support of the national forces; in which proposition was intended to […]

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Federalist No. 31

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation From the New York Packet. Tuesday, January 1, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: IN DISQUISITIONS of every kind, there are certain primary truths, or first principles, upon which all subsequent reasonings must depend. These contain an internal evidence […]

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Federalist No. 32

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation From the Daily Advertiser. Thursday, January 3, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: ALTHOUGH I am of opinion that there would be no real danger of the consequences which seem to be apprehended to the State governments from a […]

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Federalist No. 33

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation From the Daily Advertiser. Thursday, January 3, 1788 Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE residue of the argument against the provisions of the Constitution in respect to taxation is ingrafted upon the following clause. The last clause of the […]

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Federalist No. 34

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation From the New York Packet. Friday, January 4, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: I FLATTER myself it has been clearly shown in my last number that the particular States, under the proposed Constitution, would have COEQUAL authority with […]

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Federalist No. 35

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: BEFORE we proceed to examine any other objections to an indefinite power of taxation in the Union, I shall make one general remark; which is, that if the jurisdiction of […]

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Federalist No. 36

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation From the New York Packet. Tuesday, January 8, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: WE HAVE seen that the result of the observations, to which the foregoing number has been principally devoted, is, that from the natural operation of […]

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Federalist No. 37

Concerning the Difficulties of the Convention in Devising a Proper Form of Government From the Daily Advertiser. Friday, January 11, 1788. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: IN REVIEWING the defects of the existing Confederation, and showing that they cannot be supplied by a government of less energy than that […]

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Federalist No. 38

The Same Subject Continued, and the Incoherence of the Objections to the New Plan Exposed From the New York Packet. Tuesday, January 15, 1788. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: IT IS not a little remarkable that in every case reported by ancient history, in which government has been established […]

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Federalist No. 39

The Conformity of the Plan to Republican Principles For the Independent Journal. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE last paper having concluded the observations which were meant to introduce a candid survey of the plan of government reported by the convention, we now proceed to the execution of that […]

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Federalist No. 40

The Powers of the Convention to Form a Mixed Government Examined and Sustained From the New York Packet. Friday, January 18, 1788. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE SECOND point to be examined is, whether the convention were authorized to frame and propose this mixed Constitution. The powers of […]

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Federalist No. 41

General View of the Powers Conferred by the Constitution For the Independent Journal. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE Constitution proposed by the convention may be considered under two general points of view. The FIRST relates to the sum or quantity of power which it vests in the government, […]

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Federalist No. 42

The Powers Conferred by the Constitution Further Considered From the New York Packet. Tuesday, January 22, 1788. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE SECOND class of powers, lodged in the general government, consists of those which regulate the intercourse with foreign nations, to wit: to make treaties; to send […]

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Federalist No. 43

The Same Subject Continued: The Powers Conferred by the Constitution Further Considered For the Independent Journal. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE FOURTH class comprises the following miscellaneous powers:1. A power “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for a limited time, to authors and […]

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Federalist No. 44

Restrictions on the Authority of the Several States From the New York Packet. Friday, January 25, 1788. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: A FIFTH class of provisions in favor of the federal authority consists of the following restrictions on the authority of the several States:1. “No State shall enter […]

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Federalist No. 45

The Alleged Danger From the Powers of the Union to the State Governments Considered For the Independent Journal. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: HAVING shown that no one of the powers transferred to the federal government is unnecessary or improper, the next question to be considered is, whether the […]

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Federalist No. 46

The Influence of the State and Federal Governments Compared From the New York Packet. Tuesday, January 29, 1788. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: RESUMING the subject of the last paper, I proceed to inquire whether the federal government or the State governments will have the advantage with regard to […]

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Federalist No. 47

The Particular Structure of the New Government and the Distribution of Power Among Its Different Parts From the New York Packet. Friday, February 1, 1788. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: HAVING reviewed the general form of the proposed government and the general mass of power allotted to it, I […]

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Federalist No. 48

These Departments Should Not Be So Far Separated as to Have No Constitutional Control Over Each Other From the New York Packet. Friday, February 1, 1788. Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: IT WAS shown in the last paper that the political apothegm there examined does not require that the […]

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Federalist No. 49

Method of Guarding Against the Encroachments of Any One Department of Government by Appealing to the People Through a Convention From the New York Packet. Tuesday, February 5, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE author of the “Notes on the State of Virginia,” quoted in the last […]

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Federalist No. 50

Periodic Appeals to the People Considered From the New York Packet. Tuesday, February 5, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York: IT MAY be contended, perhaps, that instead of OCCASIONAL appeals to the people, which are liable to the objections urged against them, PERIODICAL appeals are the proper and […]

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Federalist No. 51 – The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments (Madison) From The New York Packet

To the People of the State of New York: TO WHAT expedient, then, shall we finally resort, for maintaining in practice the necessary partition of power among the several departments, as laid down in the Constitution? The only answer that can be given is, that as all these exterior provisions are found to be inadequate, […]

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Federalist No. 52

The House of Representatives From the New York Packet. Friday, February 8, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York: FROM the more general inquiries pursued in the four last papers, I pass on to a more particular examination of the several parts of the government. I shall begin with […]

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Federalist No. 53

The Same Subject Continued: The House of Representatives From the New York Packet. Tuesday, February 12, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York: I SHALL here, perhaps, be reminded of a current observation, “that where annual elections end, tyranny begins. ” If it be true, as has often been […]

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Federalist No. 54

The Apportionment of Members Among the States From the New York Packet. Tuesday, February 12, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE next view which I shall take of the House of Representatives relates to the appointment of its members to the several States which is to be […]

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Federalist No. 55

The Total Number of the House of Representatives From the New York Packet. Friday, February 15, 1788. Source: Consource. Click Here To View Original Document. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE number of which the House of Representatives is to consist, forms another and a very interesting point of view, under […]

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Federalist No. 56

The Same Subject Continued: The Total Number of the House of Representatives From the New York Packet. Tuesday, February 19, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE SECOND charge against the House of Representatives is, that it will be too small to possess a due knowledge of the […]

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Federalist No. 57

The Alleged Tendency of the New Plan to Elevate the Few at the Expense of the Many Considered in Connection with Representation From the New York Packet. Tuesday, February 19, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE THIRD charge against the House of Representatives is, that it will […]

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Federalist No. 58

Objection That The Number of Members Will Not Be Augmented as the Progress of Population Demands Considered Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York: THE remaining charge against the House of Representatives, which I am to examine, is grounded on a supposition that the number of members will not be augmented […]

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Federalist No. 59

Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members From the New York Packet. Friday, February 22, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE natural order of the subject leads us to consider, in this place, that provision of the Constitution which authorizes the national legislature to […]

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Federalist No. 60

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members From the New York Packet. Tuesday, February 26, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: WE HAVE seen, that an uncontrollable power over the elections to the federal government could not, without hazard, be committed […]

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Federalist No. 61

The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members From the New York Packet. Tuesday, February 26, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE more candid opposers of the provision respecting elections, contained in the plan of the convention, when pressed in argument, […]

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Federalist No. 62

The Senate For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York: HAVING examined the constitution of the House of Representatives, and answered such of the objections against it as seemed to merit notice, I enter next on the examination of the Senate. The heads into which this member […]

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Federalist No. 63

The Senate Continued For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York: A FIFTH desideratum, illustrating the utility of a senate, is the want of a due sense of national character. Without a select and stable member of the government, the esteem of foreign powers will not only […]

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Federalist No. 64

The Powers of the Senate From the New York Packet. Friday, March 7, 1788. Author: John Jay To the People of the State of New York: IT IS a just and not a new observation, that enemies to particular persons, and opponents to particular measures, seldom confine their censures to such things only in either as […]

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Federalist No. 65

The Powers of the Senate Continued From the New York Packet. Friday, March 7, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE remaining powers which the plan of the convention allots to the Senate, in a distinct capacity, are comprised in their participation with the executive in the appointment to […]

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Federalist No. 66

Objections to the Power of the Senate To Set as a Court for Impeachments Further Considered From the New York Packet. Tuesday, March 11, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: A REVIEW of the principal objections that have appeared against the proposed court for the trial of impeachments, will […]

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Federalist No. 67

The Executive Department From the New York Packet Tuesday, March 11, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE constitution of the executive department of the proposed government, claims next our attention. There is hardly any part of the system which could have been attended with greater difficulty in the […]

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Federalist No. 68

The Mode of Electing the President From the New York Packet Friday, March 14, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE mode of appointment of the Chief Magistrate of the United States is almost the only part of the system, of any consequence, which has escaped without severe censure, […]

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Federalist No. 69

The Real Character of the Executive From the New York Packet Friday, March 14, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: I PROCEED now to trace the real characters of the proposed Executive, as they are marked out in the plan of the convention. This will serve to place in […]

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Federalist No. 70

The Executive Department Further Considered From the New York Packet Tuesday, March 18, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THERE is an idea, which is not without its advocates, that a vigorous Executive is inconsistent with the genius of republican government. The enlightened well-wishers to this species of government […]

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Federalist No. 71

The Duration in Office of the Executive From the New York Packet Tuesday, March 18, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: DURATION in office has been mentioned as the second requisite to the energy of the Executive authority. This has relation to two objects: to the personal firmness of […]

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Federalist No. 72

The Same Subject Continued, and Re-Eligibility of the Executive Considered From the New York Packet Friday, March 21, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE administration of government, in its largest sense, comprehends all the operations of the body politic, whether legislative, executive, or judiciary; but in its most […]

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Federalist No. 73

The Provision For The Support of the Executive, and the Veto Power  From the New York Packet Friday, March 21, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE third ingredient towards constituting the vigor of the executive authority, is an adequate provision for its support. It is evident that, without […]

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Federalist No. 74

The Command of the Military and Naval Forces, and the Pardoning Power of the Executive From the New York Packet Tuesday, March 25, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE President of the United States is to be “commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and […]

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Federalist No. 75

The Treaty Making Power of the Executive For the Independent Journal Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE President is to have power, “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators present concur.” Though this provision has been assailed, […]

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Federalist No. 76

The Appointing Power of the Executive From the New York Packet. Tuesday, April 1, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE President is “to NOMINATE, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, […]

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Federalist No. 77

The Appointing Power Continued and Other Powers of the Executive Considered From the New York Packet. Friday, April 4, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: IT HAS been mentioned as one of the advantages to be expected from the co-operation of the Senate, in the business of appointments, that […]

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Federalist No. 78

The Judiciary Department From McLEAN’S Edition, New York. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: WE PROCEED now to an examination of the judiciary department of the proposed government. In unfolding the defects of the existing Confederation, the utility and necessity of a federal judicature have been clearly pointed out. It […]

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Federalist No. 79

The Judiciary Department Continued From McLEAN’S Edition, New York. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: NEXT to permanency in office, nothing can contribute more to the independence of the judges than a fixed provision for their support. The remark made in relation to the President is equally applicable here. […]

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Federalist No. 80

The Powers of the Judiciary From McLEAN’S Edition, New York. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: To JUDGE with accuracy of the proper extent of the federal judicature, it will be necessary to consider, in the first place, what are its proper objects. It seems scarcely to admit of controversy, […]

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Federalist No. 81

The Judiciary Continued, and the Distribution of the Judicial Authority From McLEAN’S Edition, New York. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: LET US now return to the partition of the judiciary authority between different courts, and their relations to each other, “The judicial power of the United States is” (by […]

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Federalist No. 82

The Judiciary Continued From McLEAN’S Edition, New York. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE erection of a new government, whatever care or wisdom may distinguish the work, cannot fail to originate questions of intricacy and nicety; and these may, in a particular manner, be expected to flow from the […]

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Federalist No. 83

The Judiciary Continued in Relation to Trial by Jury From McLEAN’S Edition, New York. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: THE objection to the plan of the convention, which has met with most success in this State, and perhaps in several of the other States, is THAT RELATIVE TO THE […]

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Amendment XXI

Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited. Section 3. This article shall […]

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Amendment XXII

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more […]

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Amendment XXIII

Section 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but […]

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Amendment XXIV

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to […]

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Amendment XXV

Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote […]

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Amendment XXVI

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Passed by Congress […]

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Amendment XXVII

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened. Originally proposed Sept. 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.  

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Federalist No. 84

Certain General and Miscellaneous Objections to the Constitution Considered and Answered From McLEAN’S Edition, New York. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: IN THE course of the foregoing review of the Constitution, I have taken notice of, and endeavored to answer most of the objections which have appeared against it. […]

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Federalist No. 85

Concluding Remarks From McLEAN’S Edition, New York. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: ACCORDING to the formal division of the subject of these papers, announced in my first number, there would appear still to remain for discussion two points: “the analogy of the proposed government to your own State constitution,” […]

Stamford, Connecticut June 10

Stamford Student Wins National Competition For Original Song Annie Nirschel, 17, won the “Constituting America” Best Song by a High School Student award. Nirschel has been singing since she was 7. Her first performance was singing the “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Bridgeport Bluefish game. She sang in front of more than 15,000 people at […]

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Essay #90 – First Inaugural Address by Ronald Reagan

The backdrop for President Reagan’s inaugural on January 20, 1981 was unforgettable. The United States had endured a decade of decline in our economy at home and our prestige abroad. Some Americans feared our best days were behind us as they had struggled through years of staggeringly high inflation, persistent unemployment, and shrinking incomes. The […]

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First Inaugural Address by Ronald Reagan – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Breaking with historical precedent, Reagan’s first inauguration was held on the Capitol’s West Front, allowing him to refer in his speech to the presidential memorials and to Arlington National Cemetery in the distance. The first post-New Deal president to challenge the principles of the New Deal, Reagan presents his opposition in terms of reviving the […]

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“A Time for Choosing” by Ronald Reagan

It’s all there!  That was my reaction when I reread Ronald Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” – commonly known as “The Speech” – toward the end of the President’s second term.  Presidential assistant Martin Anderson had compiled Reagan’s various campaign speeches and policy papers, so the President’s positions on the issues were readily available.  But […]

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A Time for Choosing by Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

In this nationally televised speech in support of Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican Party presidential candidate, Reagan challenges the Progressive principles behind President Johnson’s Great Society. The speech propelled Reagan to national prominence. October 27, 1964 I am going to talk of controversial things. I make no apology for this. I have been talking on […]

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Essay #88 – Commencement Address at Howard University by Lyndon B. Johnson

“Commencement Address at Howard University” Lyndon B. Johnson At the end of the United States Civil War, a century before President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1965 Commencement Address at Howard University, the ex-slave turned American orator and statesman Frederick Douglass concluded that the best thing the federal government could do for Americans of African descent was […]

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Commencement Address at Howard University by Lyndon B. Johnson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

In this commencement address, President Johnson calls for a redefinition of equality. June 4, 1965 Dr. Nabrit, my fellow Americans: I am delighted at the chance to speak at this important and this historic institution. Howard has long been an outstanding center for the education of Negro Americans. Its students are of every race and […]

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Essay #87 – Remarks at the University of Michigan by Lyndon B. Johnson

The Great Society Speech President Lyndon Johnson delivered the Great Society speech at the University of Michigan in May of 1964. Superficially, the Great Society speech is a typical modern speech, an agenda of platitudinous and pragmatic goals. More deeply, the Great Society speech represents a dramatic rhetorical reorientation of the United States. Ambitious American […]

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Remarks at the University of Michigan by Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

In this commencement address, President Johnson introduces his Progressive idea of a “Great Society.” May 22, 1964 President Hatcher, Governor Romney, Senators McNamara and Hart, Congressmen Meader and Staebler, and other members of the fine Michigan delegation, members of the graduating class, my fellow Americans: It is a great pleasure to be here today. This […]

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Commencement Address at Yale University by John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy, “Commencement Address at Yale University” Throughout the twentieth century, one of the most fundamental tenets of progressive ideology was what many historians called the “gospel of efficiency” that found salvation in scientific rather than republican government. Progressives believed that democratic, partisan politics based upon representative government was often corrupt but always too […]

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Commencement Address at Yale University by John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

President Kennedy’s New Frontier policies were consistent with the policies of his Progressive predecessors. Current problems, he suggests in this speech, call for technical expertise rather than old ideas. June 11, 1962 President Griswold, members of the faculty, graduates and their families, ladies and gentlemen: Let me begin by expressing my appreciation for the very […]

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Annual Message to Congress by Franklin D. Roosevelt

FDR and the Second Bill of Rights As World War 2 was winding down, Franklin Delano Roosevelt set his sights for the nation on transitioning the newly expanded role of government from the war effort to an expanded social and economic role. FDR called for the guarantees outlined in this address, as he argued that […]

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Annual Message to Congress by Franklin D. Roosevelt – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

As victory in the Second World War looked more and more likely, President Roosevelt turned his attention to postwar America. In this speech he proposes a “second Bill of Rights.” January 11, 1944 …It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace […]

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Essay #84 – What Good’s a Constitution? by Winston Churchill

It seems today that many Americans wrongly perceive the Constitution as a roadblock on the way to a better America.  Not too long ago during a dinner conversation, this unfavorable view of the Constitution was expressed to me.  The person had overlooked the enduring qualities of the document–qualities that have allowed freedom to flourish and […]

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What Good’s a Constitution? by Winston Churchill (1874-1965) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Written soon after Franklin Roosevelt’s Democratic Convention Address of 1936, this article by British statesman Winston Churchill points to the wide gulf between Churchill’s and Roosevelt’s economic views, even if five years later they would forge a close wartime alliance. Beyond their differences on economics, Churchill sees the American Constitution as an enduring source of […]

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Essay #83 – Democratic Convention Address by Franklin Roosevelt

On June 27, 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the Democratic nomination for the presidency.  Despite all of the success in getting Congress to pass New Deal legislation during his first administration and his excellent chances for re-election, FDR felt beleaguered.  Republicans in Congress and conservatives such as Herbert Hoover and the Liberty League continued to […]

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Democratic Convention Address by Franklin D. Roosevelt – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Having launched the New Deal, an ambitious program of political and economic re-engineering aimed at ending the Great Depression, President Roosevelt accepted his party’s nomination to run for a second term. In this speech at the 1936 Democratic Convention, he defends his programs–some of which had been struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court–and […]

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Essay #82 – “Commonwealth Club Address” by Franklin D. Roosevelt

In 1932, the Democratic candidate, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was the privileged scion of a wealthy family who ran a campaign that was committed to the Progressive vision of American society and government from the turn of the century.  In his “Commonwealth Club Address,” FDR embraced the Progressive idea that pitted the “interests” against the people.  […]

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Commonwealth Club Address by Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Delivered by Roosevelt to California’s Commonwealth Club during his first run for the White House, this speech was penned by Adolf Berle, a noted scholar and a member of Roosevelt’s “Brain Trust” who drew deeply upon earlier Progressive thought, especially that of John Dewey. September 23, 1932 …I want to speak not of politics but […]

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Essay #81 – The Inspiration Of The Declaration by Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)

President Coolidge delivered this speech on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.  In this essay, I place President Coolidge’s speech into a relevant perspective first, by outlining two divergent visions about the nature of man and secondly by explaining how these divergent visions culminated in the progressive attack on the essence of the […]

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The Inspiration of the Declaration by Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

President Coolidge delivered this speech on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Rejecting Progressivism root and branch, he defends America’s founding principles. July 5, 1926 We meet to celebrate the birthday of America. The coming of a new life always excites our interest. Although we know in the case of the individual that […]

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Essay #80 – Progressive Democracy by Herbert Croly

Herbert Croly was perhaps the most important intellectual of Progressivism, which seems odd, given the tortuous language and convoluted emotive passages that characterize his work. Progressive Democracy was not Croly’s most significant book. That was his earlier work, The Promise of American Life, a book that supposedly so influenced Theodore Roosevelt it is said to […]

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Progressive Democracy by Herbert Croly (1869-1930) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

In this book, Croly, a leading Progressive theorist and founder of The New Republic magazine, criticizes the Founders’ fear of tyranny of the majority and rejects their idea that government exists to protect individual rights. 1915 Chapter XII: The Advent of Direct Government …If economic, social, political and technical conditions had remained very much as they were […]

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Essay #79 – The Right of the People to Rule by Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt left the office of the President in 1908, only to be drawn back into politics in 1912, disappointed with his predecessor’s defense of the Progressive cause.  He launched the “Bull Moose” Party with the zeal befitting a man who was photographed actually riding a bull moose.  Roosevelt pursued an agenda in 1912 that […]

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The Right of the People to Rule by Theodore Roosevelt – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Roosevelt relinquished the presidency in 1908, believing that his Progressive legacy lay safely in the hands of his handpicked successor, William Howard Taft. Although Taft expanded many of Roosevelt’s policies and succeeded in passing through Congress the Sixteenth Amendment, permitting a national income tax, Roosevelt challenged Taft in the 1912 Republican primary. Losing the nomination, […]

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Essay #78 – The Study of Administration by Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson:  A Failed President One of the most common ways of judging a president is to simply ask if there was peace and economic prosperity during his time in office? This is a useful analysis, but not entirely complete. The president isn’t the only reason there might be peace or prosperity. Thus, other criteria […]

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The Study of Administration by Woodrow Wilson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Writing a year before Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission, the first independent regulatory agency, Wilson argues in this article that it is only through such agencies–separate from the political process and independent of the electorate–that government can pursue its necessary ends. November 2, 1886 I suppose that no practical science is ever studied where there […]

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Essay #77 – The Presidency: Making an Old Party Progressive by Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most colorful presidents to serve the Republic.  He was a rancher in the North Dakota Badlands, led the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill and received a Medal of Honor for his gallantry, the only President with such a distinction.  While climbing a Mountain in the Adirondacks of New […]

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The Presidency: Making an Old Party Progressive by Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Roosevelt’s ascension to the presidency in 1901 upon the assassination of William McKinley marked the emergence of Progressivism on the national scene. From trust busting to railroad regulation, Roosevelt sought to expand federal power over a large swath of the American economy. In this excerpt from his autobiography, he offers a view of the Constitution […]

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Essay #76 – The President of the United States by Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was dour, humorless, and convinced of the fallen nature of all but the elect few and of the need for strong leaders with proper principles who would provide the discipline and vision for the moral guidance of the weak at home and abroad. Calvinist in appearance, outlook, and family background, he perfectly […]

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The President of the United States by Woodrow Wilson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

For Wilson, constitutional checks and balances and the separation of powers are indicative of the flawed thinking of America’s Founders. They are means of limiting government, when the fact is that government alone can provide the people’s needs. Wilson looks to the presidency–the singular voice of the people–as the best hope for overcoming the old […]

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Socialism and Democracy by Woodrow Wilson

Progressivism was a movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  Whatever its different iterations, progressivism was rooted in the belief that the natural rights principles of the American founding were fine for an earlier age but no longer relevant in a mass, industrial society.  The modern age, as the Progressives saw it, was […]

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Socialism and Democracy by Woodrow Wilson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Wilson makes clear in this article the consequences of rejecting the idea of inherent natural rights for the idea that rights are a positive grant from government. August 22, 1887 Is it possible that in practical America we are becoming sentimentalists? To judge by much of our periodical literature, one would think so. All resolution […]

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“What is Progress?” by Woodrow Wilson

The elevation of Woodrow Wilson to the presidency of the United States is a defining moment in American history. It signaled the triumph of an ideology destined to transform the United States Constitution from an instrument of limited government to one of consolidation, much as had been feared by0 the Antifederalist Brutus more than a […]

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What is Progress? by Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

After earning a Ph.D. in both history and political science at Johns Hopkins University, Wilson held various academic positions, culminating in the presidency of Princeton University. Throughout this period, he came to see the Constitution as a cumbersome instrument unfit for the government of a large and vibrant nation. This speech, delivered during his successful […]

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The American Conception of Liberty by Frank Goodnow

Liberty and the Administrative State: Goodnow’s Gambit Hillsdale’s Reader on the U. S. Constitution begins with Thomas Jefferson and ends with Ronald Reagan. Of the many `contributors’ to the anthology, none is less-remembered today than Frank Goodnow, who never won an election for public office, having spent his career almost entirely in academia.  Unlike John […]

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The American Conception of Liberty by Frank Goodnow (1859-1939) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Progressive political science was based on the assumption that society could be organized in such a way that social ills would disappear. Goodnow, president of Johns Hopkins University and the first president of the American Political Science Association, helped pioneer the idea that separating politics from administration was the key to progress. In this speech, […]

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Liberalism and Social Action by John Dewey (1859-1952)

We’re No Longer Lockeans Now: John Dewey & the Rise of Modern Liberalism, by Tony Williams In his 1861 “Cornerstone” speech, Vice-President of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens argued that Thomas Jefferson and the Founders really meant all humans, including blacks, were created equal in the Declaration of Independence.  He just believed that they were wrong.  […]

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Liberalism and Social Action by John Dewey (1859-1952) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

As a leading Progressive scholar from the 1880s onward, Dewey, who taught mainly at Columbia University, devoted much of his life to redefining the idea of education. His thought was influenced by German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel, and central to it was a denial of objective truth and an embrace of historicism and moral relativism. As […]

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Second Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln

From the vantage point on March 4, 1865, President Lincoln saw the approaching end of the war, a most terrible war that exacted a toll on America never before seen and not seen since.  Lincoln’s Second Inaugural address, delivered shortly before the war’s end and his assassination, is a brief summation of the events and […]

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Second Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The South’s surrender was a month away when Lincoln delivered his Second Inaugural. Lincoln looks back on the war and ahead to the task of rebuilding the nation. A little over a month later, he was assassinated. March 4, 1865 Fellow Countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there […]

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The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

What Is the “New Birth of Freedom”?  Lincoln came to the Gettysburg field of the dead and spoke of “a new birth of freedom.”  What did he mean by it? A lot of men killed a lot of other men at Gettysburg during those three days in July of 1863. But that happened more than […]

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Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

From July 1 to 3, 1863, 160,000 men from the Union and Confederate armies met at Gettysburg in southern Pennsylvania. It would prove to be the turning point of the war, but with more than 50,000 casualties from both sides it was among the most costly of battles. President Lincoln’s speech, delivered four months later, […]

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The Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln’s right hand was trembling.  He had spent the morning shaking hundreds of hands as part of the traditional New Year’s Day greetings at the White House.  He remarked to Secretary of State, William Seward, that, “if my signature wavers they will say I was afraid to sign it.” […]

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The Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on September 22, 1862, promised emancipation for slaves residing in the Confederacy, unless the rebellious states returned to the Union by January 1 of the following year. The three-month deadline came and went, and slavery ceased to have legal sanction in much of the South. Although complete emancipation did not occur […]

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Message to Congress in Special Session by Abraham Lincoln

There has been much discussion about the reach and scope of executive power.  While certainly Presidents Washington and Jefferson provide good lessons about what would be accepted practice from an executive, perhaps no other President besides Lincoln gives as extensive a model of executive authority. To start, President Lincoln responded to the April attack on […]

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Message to Congress in Special Session by Abraham Lincoln – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

On April 12, 1861, a Confederate commander informed the Union forces stationed at Fort Sumter, in the Charleston harbor, of his plans to attack. The Civil War began an hour later. President Lincoln immediately called for 75,000 volunteers. Four states from the upper South seceded over the following month. With Congress out of session, Lincoln […]

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First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in the election of 1860, defeating three other candidates, including two Democrats, with nearly forty percent of the popular vote and an absolute majority in the Electoral College.  Democrats had split into two factions. Northern Democrats, headed by Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas (who had defeated Lincoln in the Senate election […]

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First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, delivered a month after the formation of the Confederacy, served as a final plea for Americans to reunite. Lincoln makes clear that he has no intention to change the status of slavery in the states where it exists, having no constitutional authority to do so. He makes equally clear that secession […]

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Farewell Address to the Senate by Jefferson Davis

In 1830, at a dinner on the anniversary of Jefferson’s birthday, an exchange of toasts occurred between President Andrew Jackson and Vice-President John Calhoun. Jackson’s challenge, “Our Federal Union—it must be preserved!” was returned with another from Calhoun, “The Union—next to our liberty, the most dear.” The rhetorical volleys crystallized the fundamentally different views of […]

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Farewell Address to the Senate by Jefferson Davis – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Most Southern members of Congress followed their states into secession. In this farewell speech, Senator Davis expresses admiration for the late Senator John C. Calhoun, author of the nullification doctrine, and surprisingly invokes the Declaration of Independence in his cause. January 21, 1861 I rise, Mr. President, for the purpose of announcing to the Senate […]

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Cornerstone Speech by Alexander Stephens

On March 4th 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as president.  One week later, The Constitution of the Confederate States of America was adopted by the Constitutional Convention in Montgomery, Alabama.2  Midway into the ratification process, on March 21st, provisionally elected Vice President of the Confederate States, Alexander Stephens, mounted the stage of the Athenaeum Theatre […]

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Cornerstone Speech by Alexander Stephens (1812-1883) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Former Senator Jefferson Davis became president of the Confederate government, while former Georgia Congressman Alexander Stephens became vice president. Three weeks after Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration, Stephens delivered this speech in Savannah, identifying the cornerstone of the Confederacy as an idea opposite to the equality principle of the American founding. March 21, 1861 At half past […]

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South Carolina Secession Declaration

On December 20, 1860 South Carolina became the first state to declare that it had seceded from the Federal union.  Many modern historical revisionists will try to explain away slavery’s role in the secessionist movement and the civil war, that followed.  For these individuals it is critical that the conflicts that led to the Civil […]

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South Carolina Secession Declaration – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

In December 1860, South Carolina announced its departure from the United States of America, citing Abraham Lincoln’s election as a primary cause. Six states quickly followed South Carolina’s lead, and on February 4, 1861, they banded together to form the Confederate States of America. December 24, 1860

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Reply in the Senate to Stephen Douglas by Jefferson Davis

American politics in the 1850s were dominated by the polarization over slavery, which was reflected in the increasingly menacing tone of the national political “conversation” and the retreat into starker sectionalism of political allegiances. Attempts at political compromise over this national sickness initially appeared promising, but ultimately provided only bandages, not cures. When politics failed, […]

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Reply in the Senate to Stephen Douglas by Jefferson Davis – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

A month before this speech, the Democratic National Convention had convened in Charleston, South Carolina. When the delegates failed to adopt an explicitly pro-slavery platform, the Convention dissolved. Rival Southern and Northern Conventions reconvened in June 1860, each nominating their own presidential candidate: Stephen Douglas for the North and John Breckinridge for the South. With […]

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Reply in the Senate to William Seward by Jefferson Davis

Senator Jefferson Davis’ response to William Seward’s State of the Country Speech was effectively a political speech- it was not meant to fully articulate the Southern cause of State’s Rights, nor was it a long-winded justification of that “peculiar institution,” slavery.  Rather, Davis’ goal was to respond to Seward’s earlier speech, which condemned slavery.  Within […]

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Reply in the Senate to William Seward by Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The Senate of 1860 looked little like the Senate of 1790, its proceedings having degenerated into unbridled partisanship. Several years before this debate, South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks savagely beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner following anti-slavery remarks on the Senate floor. The South had few defenders more tenacious than Mississippi’s Senator Jefferson Davis. He had […]

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Address at Cooper Institute by Abraham Lincoln

“No former effort in the line of speech-making had cost Lincoln so much time and thought as this one.”  Considering the nuances and rhetoric of Lincoln’s speeches in the Lincoln-Douglas debates, it is perhaps shocking that law partner William Herndon was referring to the Cooper Union Address.  Lincoln meticulously poured over dusty parchment for several […]

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Address at Cooper Institute by Abraham Lincoln – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

With an eye to the Republican presidential nomination of 1860, Lincoln campaigned vigorously across the North. Responding to Stephen Douglas’s “Dividing Line” speech, he used this address to claim the mantle of America’s Founders for the Republican Party. Employing original research on the anti-slavery views of “our fathers,” Lincoln cast himself as a conservative. The […]

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“The Dividing Line between Federal and Local Authority: Popular Sovereignty in the Territories” by Stephen Douglas

1859 was an ominous year for America as civil war between the sections threatened despite the attempts to avert it.  Back in 1854, Stephen Douglas had tried to quell sectionalism with the Kansas-Nebraska Act that would grant the seeming American principle of popular sovereignty regarding slavery in the territories, but Kansas became “bleeding Kansas” as […]

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The Dividing Line between Federal and Local Authority: Popular Sovereignty in the Territories by Stephen Douglas – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

In September 1857, pro-slavery forces in Kansas drafted the Lecompton Constitution. Their anti-slavery opponents declared the document invalid, as they had not participated in its creation. Adhering to the principle of popular sovereignty, Douglas rejected the Lecompton Constitution and called for Kansans to draft a new document. Northern Democrats, dismayed by the armed conflict in […]

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Seventh Lincoln-Douglas Debate

The State of Nature has a Law of Nature to govern it, which obliges everyone: And Reason, which is the Law, teaches all Mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his Life, Health, Liberty, or Possessions” John Locke, Second Treatise of Government. 1690 […]

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Seventh Lincoln-Douglas Debate – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Lincoln and Douglas agreed to debate in all nine of the state’s congressional districts, with their recent speeches in Chicago and Springfield counting as the opening salvos. Seven debates ensued, each lasting three hours. This seventh and last debate, held in Alton, drew more than 5,000 spectators. Local and national papers–most in the service of […]

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Speech at Chicago by Stephen Douglas

In his “House Divided” speech, Abraham Lincoln contested the “popular sovereignty” doctrine of Stephen Douglas by stating “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”  His opponent for the Illinois senate seat, Douglas, nicknamed the “Little Giant,” answered Lincoln’s charges a few weeks later in a speech in Chicago.  Douglas adamantly defended the principle of popular […]

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Speech at Chicago by Stephen Douglas (1813-1861) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

As the primary author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the most vocal defender of the Dred Scott decision, Douglas traveled extensively promoting the concept of popular sovereignty, which he equated with republican self-government. The national reputation he garnered in the process would, he hoped, serve him well in a future presidential bid.

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“A House Divided” by Abraham Lincoln

On June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln won the Republican nomination for the vacant U.S. Senate seat from Illinois.  His opponent in the election would be Stephen Douglas.  Upon his nomination, Lincoln delivered the “House Divided” speech in the war of words of what would culminate in the Lincoln-Douglas debates later that year.

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A House Divided by Abraham Lincoln – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Lincoln delivered this speech upon his nomination as the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, where he would square off against incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas. Drawing the leading metaphor from a passage in the Gospel of Matthew, Lincoln held that pro-slavery forces–Douglas, Franklin Pierce (president when the Kansas-Nebraska Act was adopted), Roger Taney, […]

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Speech on the Dred Scott Decision by Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln’s speech on the Dred Scott Case reveals the complex nature of his views on slavery and racial equality, complexity that reflected the divided national psyche. Many Americans in the broad middle rejected the Southern defense of slavery and believed that the “peculiar institution” violated basic human rights and the fundamental equality of life, […]

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Speech on the Dred Scott Decision by Abraham Lincoln – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Lincoln argues that Chief Justice Taney’s opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford violated America’s founding principles and rewrote American history. June 26, 1857 …And now as to the Dred Scott decision. That decision declares two propositions–first, that a negro cannot sue in the U.S. Courts; and secondly, that Congress cannot prohibit slavery in the Territories. […]

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Dred Scott v. Sandford by Justice Roger Taney

On March 6, 1857, the United States Supreme Court handed down a ruling that would forever tarnish its reputation and that would help ignite the fires that led to the Civil War. That decision, Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857), held that African-Americans were not United States citizens and that the federal government […]

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Dred Scott v. Sandford by Roger Taney (1777-1864) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Like Stephen Douglas, Supreme Court Chief Justice Taney believed that his response to the slavery controversy would resolve the issue. His ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford had the opposite result, throwing the country into even greater turmoil. The case was brought by a slave, Dred Scott, who was taken by his master into territory […]

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Republican Party Platform of 1856

The Republican Party Platform of 1856 is the most important political platform in American history.  It coalesced diverse factions into a new political movement that would dominate American politics for the next 76 years, winning 14 of the next 19 Presidential elections.  It also signaled the end of 36 years of political obfuscation on the […]

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Republican Party Platform of 1856 – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Northern anger toward the Kansas-Nebraska Act reached its zenith in the late spring of 1854, when various anti-slavery forces coalesced in Jackson, Michigan. Organized around the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the Republican Party was born out of this meeting. It would adopt a platform two years later that called for repeal of the […]

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Speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act by Abraham Lincoln

In 1820, the U.S. Congress passed the Missouri Compromise in an effort to settle disagreements between pro and anti-slavery factions regarding the admission of new states to the union.  The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in new states north of the 36°30ˈ north parallel, with the exception of Missouri.  In 1854, Senator Stephen A. Douglas of […]

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Speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act by Abraham Lincoln – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Supporters of the Compromise of 1850 lauded it as a continuation of the Missouri Compromise, which had helped maintain peace for thirty years. But four years later, the Missouri Compromise was eviscerated by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Authored by Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas, it was in fact two provisions, one providing for the territory of Nebraska […]

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The Alabama Slave Code of 1852

Chattel slavery in the United States, because of its manifest injustice, was always morally tenuous. As opposition to slavery grew in the United States in the early Nineteenth Century, the states in which slavery was allowed adopted more and more draconian policies to prop up the institution. An example is the Alabama Slave Code of […]

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Alabama Slave Code of 1852 – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Growth in the slave population and threats from abolitionists led Southern states to adopt new slave codes in the mid-nineteenth century. Alabama’s revised code, adopted in 1852 and in effect until the end of the Civil War, built on a previous code from 1833. 1852 Chapter III. Patrols. §983. All white male owners of slaves, […]

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Daniel Webster’s “The Constitution and the Union”

In this speech, U.S. Senator Daniel Webster strives to unify a deeply divided nation. Speaking “not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American,” he pleads “for the preservation of the Union.” He begins with a conciliatory tone in which he tries to view the issue of slavery from both […]

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The Constitution and the Union by Daniel Webster (1782-1852) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Webster began representing Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate in 1813, and by the 1830s had attained a national reputation–in part as a result of his Senate debates with nullification proponent Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina. Webster spent the final decade of his life attempting to avert the growing sectional divide, never wavering in his […]

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The Wilmot Proviso

Sometimes the smallest, most seemingly inconsequential events can have tremendous historical significance–a minor Central European Arch Duke’s assassination igniting World War I, for instance.  So it is with The Wilmot Proviso, a 71-word, one paragraph bill in the US House of Representatives. Introduced by Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot in 1846 as part of the debate […]

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The Wilmot Proviso – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Early on in the Mexican-American War, America gained control over a vast swath of new territory extending from the Great Plains to the Pacific Ocean. In 1846, Congressman David Wilmot proposed a ban on slavery across the region, angering those who advocated on behalf of slavery’s westward expansion. August 8, 1846 Provided, That, as an […]

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The Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise William C. Duncan, Director of the Marriage Law Foundation In our day, it is common, indeed expected, for the United States Supreme Court to strike down laws passed by Congress as unconstitutional. In the first decades of the United States, however, this was an exceedingly rare practice. In fact, in 70 years, […]

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The Missouri Compromise – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The sectional struggle over slavery came to a head in 1820. With eleven free states and eleven slave states, if Missouri entered the Union as a slave state, the balance of power would shift toward the South. After several months of debate, a compromise emerged: Maine would enter the Union as a free state, Missouri […]

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Letter To Edward Everett by James Madison

In this 1830 response to Edward Everett of Massachusetts James Madison maintains that a state does not possess the authority to strike down as unconstitutional an act of the federal government.  If you find the essay long-winded, you are correct in this assessment.  It is long-winded because James Madison was a hypocrite on the issue […]

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Letter to Edward Everett by James Madison – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

In this 1830 response to Massachusetts statesman Edward Everett, Madison maintains that a state does not possess the authority to strike down as unconstitutional an act of the federal government. The contrary doctrine, known as nullification, would take on later significance. August 28, 1830 I have duly received your letter in which you refer to […]

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Letter to John Holmes by Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson’s April, 1820 Letter to John Holmes came as the nation expanded westward into the Louisiana Purchase, and with the homesteaders and settlers came the question of slavery.  In an attempt to address slavery and its role in the new territories, it was agreed by Congress that slavery would be allowed in Missouri but […]

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Letter to John Holmes by Thomas Jefferson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Awakened to the looming crisis over slavery by the Missouri Compromise, Jefferson foresees in this letter that the Compromise was far from the final word on the matter. April 22, 1820 I thank you, dear Sir, for the copy you have been so kind as to send me of the letter to your constituents on […]

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Speech on the Oregon Bill by Sen. John C. Calhoun, June 27, 1848

Politics, a process of using rhetoric to maneuver and influence in order to either induce policy change or maintain the status quo, has been compared to many things–war, football, chess.  And like these comparatives, one side or another can outmaneuver the other (or, in turn, be outmaneuvered).

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Speech on the Oregon Bill by John C. Calhoun – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Even worse than political errors such as the Northwest Ordinance, Calhoun argues here, are theoretical errors, chief of which is the equality principle of the Declaration of Independence. June 27, 1848 …I turn now to my friends of the South, and ask: What are you prepared to do? If neither the barriers of the constitution […]

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February 6, 1837 Speech on Abolition Petitions by Sen. John C. Calhoun

In his historical play, Henry V, Shakespeare talks about casting our glance back through history, and compressing the events of many years “into an hourglass.”  In the 21st Century, it is easy to think of the debates on the abolition of slavery as having taken place with the relative-rapidity of the passage of Obamacare, but […]

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Speech on Reception of Abolition Petitions by John C. Calhoun (1782-1850) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The number of slaves in America had grown from 700,000 in 1790 to over two million in 1830. Northern opposition to slavery was growing in the 1820s and 1830s, as it became clear that hopes for a withering away of slavery were unrealistic. This elicited a similarly strong response

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Letter to Henri Gregoire by Thomas Jefferson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The Constitution specified that Congress could not prohibit the importation of slaves until 1808. President Jefferson signed the bill to bring about this prohibition in March 1807 and it went into effect on January 1, 1808. Writing here a year later, he maintains hopes for an end to slavery itself.

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Letter to the English Anti-Slavery Society by John Jay

John Jay is often lost in the long shadow cast by the legacies and genius of his Federalist co-authors, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.  Indeed, Jay authored only five of the eighty-five articles.  This was not because his co-authors doubted his abilities or influence, but because Jay was stricken with illness and unable to contribute […]

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Letter to the English Anti-Slavery Society by John Jay (1745-1829) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

In 1777, Jay’s first attempt to abolish slavery in New York failed. In 1788, the state banned the importation of slaves. By 1799, the New York Manumission Society advocated for a bill, signed into law that year by then-Governor Jay, specifying that as of July 4, all children born to slave parents would be freed […]

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Letter to John Jay by Alexander Hamilton, March 14, 1779

Before ever penning his share of The Federalist Papers, before championing the Constitution for a new nation, before laying the foundations of American fiscal policy, Alexander Hamilton was a vocal and “passionate critic” of the practice of slavery.[1] In March 1779, in the throes of the American War for Independence, Hamilton wrote to his friend […]

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Letter to John Jay by Alexander Hamilton – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Hamilton, a founder of the New York Manumission Society, writes to John Jay, a co-founder of the Society and then-president of the Continental Congress, arguing that slaves should be allowed to fight for the American cause in the War for Independence, earning their “freedom with their muskets.” Eventually, some 5,000 blacks served as soldiers in […]

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Notes on the State of VA, Query XVIII: Manners by Thomas Jefferson

Summary of Jefferson’s 18th Query[1] on “Manners” (but it’s really about Slavery!) Thomas Jefferson was a famously polite gentleman. “Manners,” however, has nothing to do with etiquette.  You could be forgiven for giving the chapter a miss, fearing a tedious discussion of odd 18th century habits and norms (“don’t pick fleas in publick,” “put your […]

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Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII: Manners by Thomas Jefferson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The primary author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was well aware that his ownership of slaves violated the principles he espoused. 1784 The particular customs and manners that may happen to be received in that State? It is difficult to determine on the standard by which the manners of a nation may be tried, […]

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George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison on Slavery

George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison on Slavery Historian William Freehling has famously said, “[i[f men were evaluated in terms of dreams rather than deeds everyone would concede the antislavery credentials of the Founding Fathers.”[i] While the Founding generation unquestionably aspired to create a nation founded on universal freedom, the […]

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George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison on Slavery – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

None of the leading Founders ever declared slavery to be a just or beneficial institution. In fact, they hoped to see the slave trade eradicated, and eventually the entire institution of slavery made illegal. George Washington Letter to Robert Morris 1 April 12, 1786 “…[T]here is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than […]

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The Northwest Ordinance

The Northwest Ordinance–adopted in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and passed again by Congress in 1789 after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution to govern the Northwest Territories which included modern day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin–is undeniably an ordinance that inherits and extends the common law tradition. This means property rights […]

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The Northwest Ordinance by Congress of the Confederation – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Passed when only a single state outlawed slavery, the anti-slavery stance of the Northwest Ordinance–barring slavery in the territories, and thus in future states–gave weight to Abraham Lincoln’s later argument that the Founders sought to place slavery “in the course of ultimate extinction.” July 13, 1787 Article VI …There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary […]

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Draft of the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

Each year millions of Americans walk through the Charters of Freedom at the National Archives building in Washington D.C.  The Archives house our nation’s founding documents — the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.  The combination of architectural beauty, august ambiance, and history is incredibly powerful.  There is something, however, that is not […]

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Draft of the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Jefferson’s first draft of the Declaration of Independence contained a critique of King George III’s involvement in the slave trade. Although not approved by the entire Second Continental Congress, it indicates that the leading Founders understood the slavery issue in moral terms. 1776 …He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most […]

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Essay XI by Brutus

He was crying from all six of his eyes. Tears gushed together with a bloody froth. Within each mouth, with gnashing teeth, he tore to bits a sinner so that he brought much pain to three at once. The first was Judas Iscariot; the second is Brutus; and the other is Cassius. In the Ninth […]

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Essay XI by Brutus – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Here Brutus criticizes the power granted by the Constitution to an independent judiciary. January 31, 1788 The nature and extent of the judicial power of the United States, proposed to be granted by this constitution, claims our particular attention.Much has been said and written upon the subject of this new system on both sides, but […]

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Letters I and II by Federal Farmer: The Debate about the Size and Scope of the Federal Government is Not New

Today, much of the national political debate centers on the size and scope of the federal government. Whether the discussion is focused on federal spending, the debt, or the merits and demerits of a nationalized healthcare system, at its core, the debate is about how much power the federal government should properly wield.

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Letters I and II by Federal Farmer – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Alexander Hamilton acknowledged the Federal Farmer–believed to be either New Yorker Melancton Smith or Virginian Richard Henry Lee–as “the most plausible” Anti-Federalist. Here, the Federal Farmer argues that the federalism of the Constitution is a mirage, for it sets up a structure in which all power will flow to the center.

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Essay I by Brutus

Scholars generally attribute the authorship of the letters of Brutus to Robert Yates (1738-1801), a prominent New York politician and judge who was a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention in 1787.  After voicing his opposition to the plan of the Convention, Yates returned home to New York. During the state ratification debates, he then became […]

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Essay I by Brutus – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Supporters of the Constitution dubbed their opponents “Anti-Federalists.” Opponents resented the label, but it stuck. The Anti-Federalist author Brutus–most likely New York lawyer Robert Yates–penned this essay, the first of sixteen, a month after the Constitution was completed. Having attended the first month of the Constitutional Convention, Yates had left, disgusted with what he perceived […]

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George Washington’s Letter Transmitting the Constitution

George Washington’s letter transmitting the Constitution to Congress marked a milestone achievement in the founding of the modern United States. George Washington, the President of the Second Continental Congress, sent his letter on September 17, 1787 after four months of having been locked in a crucible of sweltering summer heat, clashing political interests, grueling debate, […]

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Letter Transmitting the Constitution by George Washington – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

As they affixed their names to the new Constitution, the Framers understood that their work had just begun. Four months of debate and compromise paled in comparison to the challenge of convincing the states to ratify. Unanimity was not necessary for the Constitution to go into effect–only nine of thirteen states were needed–but they knew […]

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Vices of the Political System of the United States by James Madison

James Madison spent much of late 1786 and early 1787 at work on what one historian called his “research project.”  Having participated in helping bring about the interstate convention that was going to meet in Philadelphia in May 1787, he intended to apply both historical knowledge and practical experience to the task of shaping proposals […]

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Vices of the Political System of the United States by James Madison – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

In this essay, Madison outlines the main issues that the Constitutional Convention should address. His early arrival in Philadelphia allowed him to incorporate his ideas into a recommended plan for the Convention–what came to be called the Virginia Plan–representing no mere revision of the Articles of Confederation, but the adoption of an entirely new Constitution. […]

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Notes on the State of Virginia Query XIII: Constitution by Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia provides an examination of the difficulties the State of Virginia faced in governing itself over the course of the Revolutionary period.  Self-government, as the United States has learned over the last two centuries, is no mean feat.  It was made all the more difficult as there were […]

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Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XIII: Constitution by Thomas Jefferson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XIII: Constitution 1 Thomas Jefferson Virginia, the most populous state, adopted its state constitution in 1776, a month before the Declaration of Independence passed Congress. Jefferson, Virginia’s governor from 1779 to 1781, addressed the problems that plagued the state’s first attempt at self-government in his 1784 book, Notes […]

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Letter to James Madison by George Washington

George Washington’s elegant and courteous letter to James Madison illustrates what America’s most eminent man thought about the existing government, or more properly, the need for reform of the system just prior to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 (as well as providing sage counsel about moderation in dealing with civil unrest and integrity in foreign […]

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Letter to James Madison by George Washington – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Washington writes here to Madison, two months before the Constitutional Convention was set to start in Philadelphia. A year earlier, only twelve men from five states attended a gathering held in Annapolis, Maryland, to amend the Articles of Confederation. Both men feared the consequences should this convention similarly fail. March 31, 1787 My dear Sir: […]

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Letter to John Jay by George Washington

Five years after the surrender at Yorktown, circumstances were all but calm for the young republic.  George Washington, retired to Mount Vernon, wrote a letter to the second Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation, John Jay, articulating his concerns over the state of events.  Washington began the letter disquieted by the divergent […]

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Letter to John Jay by George Washington – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Washington writes here as a private citizen to Jay, who as Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation witnessed firsthand the Articles’ shortcomings, as each state pursued a different foreign policy. August 15, 1786 Dear Sir: I have to thank you very sincerely for your interesting letter of the twenty-seventh of June, as […]

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Circular Letter to the States by George Washington

In 1783, George Washington drafts a letter that he asks to be sent to the state legislatures of all the states that made up colonies of the USA.  These states were Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island. Washington wrote as a […]

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Circular Letter to the States by George Washington – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

As Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, overseen by a national legislature that struggled to fund the War for Independence, General Washington was as familiar as anyone with the defects of the Articles of Confederation. In this, his last circular letter to the states, which he sent to the thirteen governors, Washington emphasizes the need for […]

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The Articles of Confederation

If Jay Leno were to conduct a   “Man on the Street” segment and ask random Americans to name the first constitution for the United States, the answers would probably range from, “The Declaration of Independence,” to “the Preamble,” to “Who cares?”  The answer, of course, is The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.  American ignorance […]

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The Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the thirteen founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and that served as its first constitution. The Second Continental Congress began to draft the Articles on June 12, 1776, and sent an approved version to the […]

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The Articles of Confederation – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Pennsylvanian John Dickinson–who declined to sign the Declaration of Independence because he believed that the states should be organized politically before declaring independence–wrote the first draft of the Articles of Confederation in 1777. Signed into effect that year and ratified in 1781, the Articles provided the structure of government for the states until the Constitution […]

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On Property by James Madison

“Conscience is the Most Sacred of Property”: James Madison’s Essay on Property by Tony Williams On January 24, 1774, James Madison wrote to a college friend praising the Boston Tea Party, which had occurred only weeks before.  He praised the Boston patriots for their boldness in “defending liberty and property.”  Equating political and civil liberty, […]

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On Property by James Madison – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Madison, known as the “Father of the Constitution,” was elected from Virginia to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1788, where he served four terms. This essay, which then-Congressman Madison wrote for a New York newspaper, connects the idea of property rights as commonly understood to man’s natural rights, culminating in the right of conscience. […]

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Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association by Thomas Jefferson

On January 1, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson received a thirteen-foot mammoth cheese weighing some 1,200 pounds.  It was delivered by dissenting Baptist minister and long-time advocate of religious liberty, Reverend John Leland, who then preached a sermon to the president and members of Congress at the Capitol two days later.  Jefferson took the opportunity to […]

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Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association by Thomas Jefferson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The Danbury Baptist Association, aware of Jefferson’s earlier role in overturning the Anglican establishment in Virginia, expressed hope that as president he might help liberate them from the religious constraints in Connecticut. Jefferson’s response, in which he employs the famous “wall of separation between church and state” metaphor, is not a demand for the separation […]

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Farewell Address by George Washington

At the end of his second presidential administration, after forty-five years serving America, President Washington did not want to leave without imparting some final guidance and wisdom. To do so, Washington, working from drafts written by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, wrote a letter to the American people titled “The Address of Gen. Washington to […]

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George Washington’s Farewell Address – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Washington had first prepared a farewell address to be delivered in 1792, upon the conclusion of his first term as president. Having been convinced to stand for a second term, he was unanimously re-elected. When he finally issued this address in 1796, it was his last public work. After nearly forty-five years of service, he […]

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Letter to the Hebrew Congregation by George Washington

President George Washington’s famous letter “To the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island” of August 18, 1790, is a response to a letter of the previous day penned by Moses Seixas on behalf of Congregation Yeshuat Israel. Seixas’s letter gives thanks to God for the religious liberty afforded at last by a government “erected by […]

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George Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The Constitution of 1787 said little directly about religion, with the notable exception of a ban on religious tests as a requirement for federal office. When Washington was elected president, the Bill of Rights had not yet been adopted. Despite this, in his response to a congratulatory note sent to him by a group of […]

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Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom by Thomas Jefferson

America’s Founding generation well understood the principle that, in order to maintain individual liberty and freedom of conscience, civil government must be limited in its purpose and its power.  They also knew the history of widespread and bloody religious conflict behind that principle.  At the same time, many Americans believed that government should support religion […]

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Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom By Thomas Jefferson -Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Jefferson asked to be remembered on his tombstone as author of the Declaration of Independence, father of the University of Virginia, and author of this law. Long delayed because of the contentiousness of the subject and the powerful interests arrayed against it, the Virginia Statute was drafted in 1777, introduced as a bill in the […]

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Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments by James Madison

James Madison’s “Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments” is an important document in establishing the necessity of religious liberty in America. Madison grew up in a Virginia in which the Church of England was the established church. Not only were Virginia’s citizens taxed to support the Church of England, but ministers of other denominations were […]

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Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessment by James Madison (1751-1836) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Madison circulated the Memorial and Remonstrance anonymously in 1785 as part of the effort to pass the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. It appeals to Christian citizens by emphasizing that Christianity’s own teachings preclude politically coerced support for particular sects, and to all citizens based on reason.

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The Northwest Ordinance

Enacted on July 13, 1787, the Northwest Ordinance was a great achievement, and a document Americans should be proud to own.  Yet it emerged from a Congress that, under the Articles of Confederation, had not been able to achieve very much.  Circumstances in the territories, moreover, were very difficult, and the motives for passing the […]

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The Northwest Ordinance – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Adopted by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance set forth a model for the expansion of the American republic. Providing a governing structure for the territory that would later become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, it prohibited slavery, protected religious liberty, and encouraged education. Following the adoption of the Constitution, […]

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Fast Day Proclamation of the Continental Congress

The Founders’ proclamations on fasting and prayer are relevant today by George Landrith Today, many Americans think that government and even public life must be strictly separated from religious life and faith. Few know what the Constitution actually says about religious freedom or what the Founders believed about the concepts of liberty, God, and religion. […]

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Fast Day Proclamation of the Continental Congress – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The petition of this Fast Day Proclamation was echoed repeatedly by Congresses in early American history. December 11, 1776 Whereas, the war in which the United States are engaged with Great Britain, has not only been prolonged, but is likely to be carried to the greatest extremity; and whereas, it becomes all public bodies, as […]

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Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason

The Virginia Declaration of Rights is one of the key source documents of the U.S. Constitution.  This first American declaration of rights includes multiple provisions later echoed, and even copied, by the authors of the U.S. Constitution.  The Declaration’s chief author, George Mason, and one of the two other main contributors, James Madison, played extremely […]

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Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason (1725-1792) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The Virginia Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason as a preamble to the Virginia Constitution, is–along with the Declaration of Independence that followed a month later–the clearest statement of the social contract theory of government found in major early American documents. June 12, 1776 A declaration of rights made by the Representatives of the […]

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Letter to Roger Weightman by Thomas Jefferson

In the last public communication of his life, Thomas Jefferson made it crystal clear why documents and actions have lasting consequences.  In his letter to Washington, DC Mayor, Roger C. Weightman, Jefferson eloquently asserts the legacy of the Declaration of Independence by declaring it: “the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which […]

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Letter to Roger Weightman by Thomas Jefferson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Written just days before his death on July 4, 1826, this letter to the mayor of Washington, D.C., encapsulates the great cause of Jefferson’s life. June 24, 1826 Respected Sir: The kind invitation I receive from you, on the part of the citizens of the city of Washington, to be present with them at their […]

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Common Sense by Thomas Paine

As 1776 began, America’s rebellion against British colonial rule was not yet a revolution.  Less than half the projected number of volunteers had enlisted in the Continental army with desertions mounting.  George Washington was entrenched, but stalemated in Cambridge outside of Boston. The British Commander, General John Burgoyne, mocked the situation by writing and producing […]

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Common Sense by Thomas Paine (1737-1809) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Published anonymously in January 1776 by an Englishman who had come to Philadelphia two years before, Common Sense became the most published work of the founding era. Printed over half a million times in a nation of three million people, it made a passionate case for liberty and against monarchy. Unpopular in later life for […]

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The Farmer Refuted by Alexander Hamilton

With the certitude of wisdom and the patronizing tone one might recall from one’s own youth, the precocious young Alexander Hamilton offers to teach the Loyalist Samuel Seabury the true meaning of the rights of man. The pointed words used and Hamilton’s sarcastic references to the “Farmer’s” ignorance of the God-given nature of those rights […]

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The Farmer Refuted by Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

When Loyalist writings began to appear in New York newspapers in 1775, nineteen-year-old Hamilton responded with an essay defending the colonists’ right of revolution. Still a student at King’s College, he followed up with this second pamphlet, expanding his argument on the purpose of legitimate government. February 23, 1775 I shall, for the present, pass […]

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An Election Sermon by Gad Hitchcock

John Adams wrote, “The Revolu­tion was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people … This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution.” How did a revolution commence in the minds and hearts of Americans? It germinated […]

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An Election Sermon by Gad Hitchcock (1718-1803) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Pastors and ministers were among the highest educated citizens in the American colonies, and often addressed politics from the pulpit. This sermon by Hitchcock was delivered on election day in 1774, in the presence of General Thomas Gage, the British military governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. It decries British monarchical rule and celebrates […]

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A Summary View of the Rights of British America by Thomas Jefferson

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress, after months of preparation and weeks of political wrangling, announced that it had adopted an independence declaration. That document was written by Thomas Jefferson and substantially revised (“mangled,” according to Jefferson) by the Congress. Due to his other obligations, Jefferson had little time to spend on this task. […]

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A Summary View of the Rights of British America by Thomas Jefferson – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Jefferson began his public career in 1769 in the Virginia House of Burgesses, the colonial legislature. British implementation of the Coercive Acts of 1774 (also known as the Intolerable Acts)–passed in response to the Boston Tea Party–prompted the “Summary View,” Jefferson’s first publication. Written for Virginians who were choosing delegates to the First Continental Congress, […]

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Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved by James Otis

Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved-James Otis The Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 set forth the fundamental principle that no taxes could be imposed on them, “but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives.” This principle was reduced to the aphorism “taxation without representation is […]

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Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved by James Otis (1725-1783) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Otis rose to prominence in 1761, after he gave a courtroom speech opposing the Writs of Assistance–blanket warrants issued by the British for searching suspect property. He edited that speech into this essay three years later, after the passage of the Sugar Act. Its arguments contain the seed of the American Revolution–an appeal to natural […]

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Fragment on the Constitution and the Union by Abraham Lincoln

Modern people argue about the importance of the Constitution asking: Should we strictly adhere to its words, or should we view it as a living document?  The Founders penned it more than 200 years ago.  Is it still relevant today? In his short piece, “Fragment on the Constitution and the Union,” Abraham Lincoln asserts that […]

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Fragment on the Constitution and the Union by Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

This never appeared in Lincoln’s public speeches, but it is possible that he composed it while writing his First Inaugural Address. It draws upon the King James translation of Proverbs 25:11–”A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver”–to describe the relationship between the principles of the Declaration and the purpose […]

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Marbury vs. Madison by John Marshall

“It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” With those understated words, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall ushered in the modern era of judicial review – the notion that it is up to judges, not legislators or presidents, to finally interpret and give meaning to […]

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Marbury vs. Madison by John Marshall (1755-1835) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Thomas Jefferson’s election as president is often called the “Revolution of 1800,” because it marked the first peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another. Despite its uniquely pacific character, the election’s aftermath was marked by partisan rancor. The day before Jefferson took office, President John Adams commissioned fifty-eight Federalist judges.

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The US Constitution

The Constitution When Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were creating the University of Virginia, they decided that the three American documents that would best illuminate the meaning of the Constitution when teaching future statesmen were the Declaration of Independence (along with the ideas of John Locke and Algernon Sidney), George Washington’s Farewell Address, and the […]

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The Constitution of the United States of America – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

The Constitution of the United States of America Fifty-five delegates from twelve states (Rhode Island declined to participate) traveled to Philadelphia to attend the Constitutional Convention, which began in May 1787. They quickly scrapped the existing Articles of Confederation, and after four months they concluded their business by adopting a new frame of government. On […]

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Discourses Concerning Government by Algernon Sidney

Algernon Sidney, the author of the Discourses, was a man of the 17th century’s Age of Reason. He was skeptical of organized religion though not by that measure doubting of God. He was firmly convinced of the inherent rationality of the human will and the essential equality of all humans as children of God, from […]

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Discourses Concerning Government by Algernon Sidney (1623-1683) – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Involved in some of the same anti-monarchical causes as John Locke, Sidney was caught up in the conspiracy to oust King Charles II. He was beheaded on December 7, 1683, a martyr to the English Whig cause. Fifteen years after his death, his Discourses Concerning Government was published. A hero to John Adams and widely […]

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Second Treatise of Government by John Locke

John Locke’s Second Treatise is the much better known half of his Two Treatises of Government. Although the Treatises were not published until 1689, they were composed during the decade that culminated in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. During that decade Locke was deeply involved in opposition to the authoritarian ambitions of Charles II and […]

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The Second Treatise of Government by John Locke – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Locke’s Two Treatises of Government presented a critique of the divine right of kings and outlined the principles of natural rights and government by consent. Written during the 1670s, they were not published until after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the passage of the English Bill of Rights in 1689. Locke was the political […]

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On the Commonwealth by Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cicero’s De Republica by Robert Frank Pence Cicero’s De Republica Robert Frank Pence Gone, gone for ever is that valour that used to be found in this Republic and caused brave men to suppress a citizen traitor with keener punishment than the most bitter foe.[1] Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.E.) had a decision to make. […]

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On the Commonwealth by Marcus Tullius Cicero – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

On the Commonwealth 1 Marcus Tullius Cicero (c. 106-43 B.C.) Cicero was the great defender of the Roman republic and a master of oratory. The author of several books on politics, philosophy, and rhetoric, he was the first to speak of natural law as a moral or political law, and was an important influence on […]

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The Politics by Aristotle

Aristotle studied under Plato and tutored Alexander the Great. If only because of his pedigree he should be read and understood by anyone who is interested in politics. But those who want to understand politics in general, and American politics in particular, would do well to study the works of Aristotle for the insight they […]

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The Politics by Aristotle, Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Thomas Jefferson began studying Greek at the age of nine, and later in life employed so many Greek phrases in his letters that John Adams, his frequent correspondent, complained of them. The Founders’ interest in classical languages was not academic, but political and philosophical. Among the ancient books that they drew upon was Aristotle’s Politics, […]

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Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics & American Republican Government After George Washington was sworn-in as the first president of the new American republic on April 30, 1789, he delivered his First Inaugural Address to the people’s representatives in Congress.  He started the speech with his characteristic humility, stating that although he wished to retire to Mount Vernon […]

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Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Written in the tradition of Aristotle’s teacher, Plato–and of Plato’s teacher, Socrates–the Nicomachean Ethics addresses the question, “What is the best life for man?” An extended reflection on virtue, happiness, and friendship, it helped to inform the moral and political thought of America’s Founders. There are echoes of it, for instance, in President George Washington’s […]

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The Letter to Henry Lee by Thomas Jefferson

Letter to Henry Lee (May 8, 1825) In his 1825 letter to Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson lays out the “object” of the Declaration, the origins of the “self-evident” principles it outlines, and the nature of its authority. The “object of the Declaration of Independence,” he explains, was to “appeal to the tribunal of the world” […]

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Letter to Henry Lee by Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

In his later years, Jefferson answered hundreds of letters, including, in this instance, a query about the Declaration of Independence, explaining that it drew upon a long political and philosophical tradition and reflected principles widely understood by Americans of the founding era. May 8, 1825 Dear Sir: …That George Mason was the author of the […]

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The Declaration of Independence Part II

Reading the Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence bears the heading, “in Congress, July 4, 1776, a declaration by the representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled.” At the outset we see the practice of a “congress” — it reads: “in Congress July 4, 1776.”  This act taken in a […]

2013 Reading Schedule

Reading/Commenting Schedule for 4th Annual 90 Day Study:  The Classics that Inspired Our Constitution and the Challenges Our Constitution Faces Today  All Assigned Readings Are Available Online, Through Hillsdale College’s The U.S. Constitution: A Reader   Sunday, February 17 – Read The Declaration of Independence   Day 1 – Monday, February 18 – Comment on The Declaration […]

Donate

HOW TO DONATE We are the only organization that utilizes the movies, music and television – kids’ own works – to inspire Americans of all ages to learn about the U.S. Constitution, by distributing their works through the national media. 35 Television stations playing our winners’ PSA’s, with a reach of over 2 million Over […]

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For This Patriotic Month – An Essay to Read With Your Kids from Constituting America National Youth Director & “Our Constitution Rocks Author” Juliette Turner: Independence Day, Let the Bells Ring Out!

The Fourth of July ****** Bells cried out, cutting through the air of a still, humid night, crawling through the streets of Philadelphia. The full moon pierced through a small cloud, beaming its rays onto a solitary clock tower that stood in the middle of a maze of cobble stone streets. A white horse pounded […]

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America’s experiment in self-government reveals itself in the Amendment process

I’m honored and delighted Constituting America would extend me an opportunity to conclude this year’s round of essays on the amendment process and to address the genius of the U.S. Constitution. Our Founding Fathers believed in some simple and yet, for their times, absolutely revolutionary ideas.  One of these ideas was that every individual possessed […]

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Proposed Amendment: D.C. Statehood

Proposed Amendment: D.C. Statehood Amendment: District of Columbia Statehood Proposal:   Section 1. For purposes of representation in the Congress, election of the President and Vice President, and article V of this Constitution, the District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall be treated as though it were a State.   Section […]

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A Look At Another Proposed Amendment: Women’s Equal Rights

Another Proposed Amendment: Women’s Equal Rights: Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 3. This amendment shall […]

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Proposed Amendment: Child Labor Ban

http://vimeo.com/44317424 Proposed Amendment: Child Labor Ban Amendment: Section 1: The Congress shall have power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age.Section 2: The power of the several States is unimpaired by this article except that the operation of State laws shall be suspended to the extent necessary to […]

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A Look Back in History: Proposed Amendment – Slavery and the States

http://vimeo.com/44223606 Proposed Amendment: Slavery and the States Amendment: State’s sole right to regulate slavery proposal: No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the […]

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Proposed Amendment: Titles of Nobility Amendment

http://vimeo.com/44084644 Proposed Amendment: Titles of Nobility Amendment: If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain, any title of nobility or honour, or shall, without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince or foreign power, such […]

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Proposed Congressional Apportionment Amendment

http://vimeo.com/44015708 Before we conclude our 90 Day Amendment Study, we now take a look at some pending Constitutional Amendments, which have not been adopted: The first in this short series is an amendment on Congressional Apportionment – Essayist: David Eastman, 2011 Claremont Institute Abraham Lincoln Fellow Proposed Congressional Apportionment Amendment “After the first enumeration required […]

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Amendment XXVII

Amendment XXVII: No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened. The 27th Amendment states that any law Congress passes that alters their compensation cannot take effect until after the next election. On September 25, 1789, Congress proposed twelve constitutional […]

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Amendment XXVI, Section Two

Amendment XXVI: Section 1:  The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age. Section 2:  The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.   […]

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Amendment XXVI, Section 1

http://vimeo.com/43824641 Amendment XXVI: The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age. The Twenty-Sixth Amendment: Empowering America’s Youth Throughout our nation’s history the right to vote has remained a […]

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Amendment XXV, Section 4

http://vimeo.com/43652085 Amendment XXV, Section 4: Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President […]

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Amendment XXV: Presidential Succession Section 3

Amendment XXV Section 3 Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and […]

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Amendment XXV, Section 2

http://vimeo.com/44178578 Amendment XXV, Section 2: Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress. The 25rd Amendment, Section 2, explains that in a vacancy in the office of Vice President, […]

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Amendment XXV, Section 1

http://vimeo.com/43441510 Amendment XXV, Section 1: In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. The 25th Amendment was ratified in 1967 to clarify the Presidential line of succession established in Article II of the Constitution.  For the sake of national security, and […]

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Amendment XXIV, Section 2

http://vimeo.com/43382879 Amendment XXIV: 1:  The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of […]

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Amendment XXIV, Section 1

Amendment XXIV, Section 1: The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of […]

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Amendment XXIII

Amendment XXIII: The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, […]

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Amendment XXII

Amendment XXII: 1: No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the […]

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Amendment XXII

Amendment XXII: 1: No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the […]

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Amendment XXI, Section 2

Amendment XXI, Section 2: Section 2: The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.   The 21st Amendment is the only amendment to the Constitution which repeals another amendment.  The amendment which […]

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Amendment XXI, Section 1

Amendment XXI, Section 1: The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. Ending Prohibition:  Are there Lessons to be Learned? In this essay, my intention is not to focus on the fact that the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition, but to explore briefly what lessons we can learn from […]

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Amendment XX, Section 4

Amendment XX, Section 4: The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom […]

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Amendment XX, Section 3

http://vimeo.com/42675773 Amendment XX, Section 3: If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect […]

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Amendment XX, Section 2

Amendment XX, Section 2: The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. The XXth Amendment is fairly straightforward.  Often referred to as the “Lame Duck Amendment” the XXth Amendment’s purpose is […]

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Amendment XX, Section 1

Amendment XX, Section 1: The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

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Amendment XIX

Amendment XIX: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.   The Nineteenth Amendment The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits the federal government or state governments […]

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Amendment XVIII, Section 2

Amendment XVIII: Section 1: After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation Section 2: The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Amendment XVIII, Section 2 The Prohibition amendment […]

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Amendment XVIII, Section 1

Amendment XVIII: Section 1: After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. Section 2: The Congress and the several […]

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Amendment XVII: Reform or Revision?

Amendment XVII: 1: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. 2: […]

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Amendment XVII: Direct Election of Senators

Amendment XVII: 1: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. 2: […]

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Amendment XVI

Amendment XVI: The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. Reform or Revision? The infamous XVI Amendment gave the national government the authority to tax income … from whatever source derived. Income tax […]

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Amendment XVI

Amendment XVI: The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. Power to Tax Incomes The 16th Amendment is an excellent example of why it is important to act judiciously and cautiously when it […]

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Amendment XV, Section Two

Amendment XV: Section 1: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Section 2: The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. As do its […]

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Amendment XV

Amendment XV: 1: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 2: The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. The Fifteenth Amendment to the […]

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Amendment XIV – The 14th Amendment’s Impact on the Constitution

Amendment XIV: 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any […]

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Amendment XIV – The 14th Amendment’s Impact on the Constitution

Amendment XIV: 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any […]

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Amendment XIV – The 14th Amendment’s Impact on the Constitution

Amendment XIV: 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any […]

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Amendment XIV, Section 5

http://vimeo.com/41556485 Amendment XIV, Section 5: The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment seems unprepossessing, but it has become the focus of some of the most important constitutional disputes in recent decades. That section gives Congress the power to enforce the Fourteenth […]

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Amendment XIV, Section 4

http://vimeo.com/41471364 Amendment XIV, Section 4: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred […]

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Amendment XIV, Section 3

http://vimeo.com/41401565 Amendment XIV, Section 3: No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, […]

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Amendment XIV, Section 2

http://vimeo.com/41338488 Amendment XIV, Section 2: Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in […]

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Amendment XIV, Section 1: Equal Protection Under the Law

http://vimeo.com/41276250 Amendment XIV, Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor […]

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Amendment XIV Due Process Protection

http://vimeo.com/41124226 Amendment XIV, Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor […]

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Amendment XIV Privileges or Immunities

http://vimeo.com/41058151 Amendment XIV, Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor […]

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Amendment XIV, Section 1 – Citizenship Defined

Amendment XIV, Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall […]

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Amendment XIII: Section 1

  Amendment XIII, Section 2 Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States […]

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Amendment XIII: Section 1

Amendment 13 – Slavery Abolished, Ratified December 6, 1865. Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate […]

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Amendment XII: Circumstances Allowing the Senate to Choose the Vice-President

http://vimeo.com/40700181 Amendment XII: The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for […]

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Amendment XII: A Tie in the Electoral College

Amendment XII: The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as […]

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Amendment XII: Reforming the Electoral College

Amendment XII: The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as […]

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Amendment XI: Right of States to Sovereign Immunity

http://vimeo.com/40522514 Amendment XI: The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. “The prince is not bound by the laws.” Thus wrote the […]

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Amendment X: Modern Issues of States’ Rights

http://vimeo.com/40431786 Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Modern Issues Of States’ Rights Ninety percent, if not more, of what the central government does today is unconstitutional. All of the following legislation […]

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Amendment X: Rights Reserved to the States and the People

http://vimeo.com/40278141 Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. The Tenth Amendment: Protecting Freedom Against Big Government The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to […]

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Amendment X: Our Constitution a Grant of Limited Powers to the National Government

http://vimeo.com/40200787 Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. THE TENTH AMENDMENT Statements about the Tenth amendment tend towards opposing extremes. Some cite the Amendment in claiming more powers than the Constitution actually […]

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Amendment IX

http://vimeo.com/40152775 Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. In the waning days of the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, George Mason of Virginia, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and Luther Martin of Maryland began pressing for the addition of a comprehensive […]

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Amendment IX: Rights Which Are Enumerated

http://vimeo.com/40060581 Amendment 9 – Construction of Constitution. Ratified 12/15/1791. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. The 9th Amendment to the Constitution was one of twelve submitted to the states for ratification in fall, 1789.  Ten of the twelve were ratified […]

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Amendment VIII

Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. The adoption of this terse amendment, the shortest of them all, inspired very little debate among our founding fathers. These sixteen words reflect the hard-won and long-defended consensus of free society that just government remains so only if […]

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Amendment VIII: Right Against Cruel and Unusual Punishment

http://vimeo.com/39872908 Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Early Origins of the 8th Amendment’s “Cruel and Unusual Punishments” Clause Like many provisions of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the protection against “cruel and unusual punishments” prescribed in the 8th Amendment has deep […]

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Amendment VIII: Right Against Excessive Fines

http://vimeo.com/39813188 Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Excessive Fines Clause The Eighth Amendment declares excessive fines to be unconstitutional.   Along with the other clauses of the amendment, which prohibit excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment, this clause sought to protect Americans against […]

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Amendment VIII: Right to Reasonable Bail

http://vimeo.com/39746844 Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Amendment VIII: Reasonable Bail After arrest, a criminal defendant can be released if he offers some security to ensure he will appear at trial. The release and required security are called bail. Bail protects “the defendant’s […]

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Amendment VII: Trier of Fact Versus Law

http://vimeo.com/39680022 Amendment VII: In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. If you […]

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Amendment VII: Right to Trial in Civil Disputes

http://vimeo.com/39609587 Amendment VII: In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. Right to […]

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Amendment VI

http://vimeo.com/39459584 Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the […]

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Amendment VI: Right to Have Assistance of Counsel

http://vimeo.com/39386194 Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the […]

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Amendment VI: Right to Confront Accuser

http://vimeo.com/39322192 Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the […]

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Amendment VI: Right to be Informed of the Charge

http://vimeo.com/39239148 Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the […]

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Amendment VI: Right to an Impartial Jury

http://vimeo.com/39171149 Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the […]

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Amendment VI: Right to a Public Trial

http://vimeo.com/39033167 Secret trials are the stuff of nightmares and a hallmark of a totalitarian state. The U.S. Supreme Court has noted that institutions employing secret trials “symbolized a menace to liberty.” In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 269 (1948). When the Framers of the Sixth Amendment included the requirement of a “public” trial, they were […]

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Amendment VI: Right to a Speedy Trial

http://vimeo.com/38961672 Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the […]

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Amendment V

  Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any […]

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Amendment V: Right to Just Compensation in Eminent Domain Matters

http://vimeo.com/38825685 Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any […]

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Amendment V: Right to Due Process to Prevent Deprivation of Life, Liberty, or Property

http://vimeo.com/38759291 In that funny movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a woman is tried for the crime of being a witch by placing her on a scale to see if she weighs more than a duck.  Laugh now.  In 9th Century England, procedure was scarcely better.  Commonplace were absurdities such as the “ordeal,” where […]

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Amendment V: Right Against Self- Incrimination

http://vimeo.com/38615563 Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any […]

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Amendment V: Right Against Double Jeopardy

Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person […]

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Amendment V: Right Against Double Jeopardy

http://vimeo.com/38540555 Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any […]

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Amendment V: The Right to a Grand Jury

http://vimeo.com/38478927 The Right to a Grand Jury The grand jury occupies a unique place in our justice system.  It does not prosecute, but the power of a federal prosecutor depends on the grand jury.  It does not judge, but it can expose or shield defendants from judgment.  It can protect citizens against baseless prosecution, but […]

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Amendment IV: Warrants Must Describe the Place and Persons With Particularity

http://vimeo.com/38416219 Amendment IV: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularity describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to […]

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Amendment IV: Warrants to Have Probable Cause

http://vimeo.com/38333110 “…..no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation…” Americans today take great pride in the accomplishments and brilliance of the drafters of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  One of the things that this essay will demonstrate is that quite often the protections that we take for granted […]

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Amendment IV: Protection Against Unreasonable Searches

March 9, 2012 – Amendment IV: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons […]

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Amendment III: Situation in Time of War

Amendment III “No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.” The Third Amendment seldom enjoys press or study; one high school-level text dismisses it with a single sentence to the effect […]

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Amendment III: Freedom From Quartering Soldiers in Peacetime

Amendment III “No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner prescribed by law.” Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, author of perhaps the best commentary on the Constitution, wasted little time with the Third Amendment: “This provision speaks […]

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Amendment II: The Right of the People to Keep & Bear Arms, Shall Not Be Infringed

“The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” To an overwhelming percentage of Americans, the constitutional question over DC’s and Chicago’s gun bans seemed simple enough.  The plain meaning of the amendment was clear, and the Supreme Court agreed.  In 2008 and 2010, Supreme Court decisions struck down gun bans […]

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Amendment II: Well Regulated Militia Being Necessary to the Security of a Free State

Amendment II: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Amendment II: A Well Regulated Militia Being Necessary to the Security of a Free State When Paul Revere and his companions alerted the Massachusetts countryside of […]

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Amendment I: Guest Essayist: Justin Dyer, Ph.D., Author and Professor of Political Science, University of Missouri

Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. In the American political tradition, we often refer […]

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Amendment I: Right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

It is a commonplace to trace the origins of the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances to Magna Carta in 1215. There, Barons displeased with King John’s pretension to absolute, forced him to agree to specific limitations on his authority in deference to that of the nobility. Chapter 61 of the […]

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Amendment I: Congress Shall Make No Laws….Abridging the Right of the People to Peacefully Assemble

The Right to Effective Citizenship Free worship; free speech; freedom to publish; and the rights of the people to assemble peaceably and to petition their government: we cherish our First Amendment freedoms but we may not see how intimately they support one another, how much they need each other. Free worship means that I may […]

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Amendment I: Freedom of the Press

“Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of … the press ….”  Those words, along with all others in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, are engraved in the 74 foot high marble wall on the front of the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.  The words are […]

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Listen to Janine Turner Interview Andrew Langer, President of the Institute for Liberty on the Janine Turner Radio Show – on Amendment I: Congress Shall make no law….abridging the freedom of speech

February 27, 2012 – Janine Turner Interviews Andrew Langer, President of the Institute for Liberty on The Janine Turner Radio Show! Listen to Andrew & Janine discuss Andrew’s essay: The First Amendment: Congress Shall make no law….abridging the freedom of speech!

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Amendment I: Congress Shall make no law….abridging the freedom of speech

http://vimeo.com/37493542 Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech. In our free republic, fewer rights are more cherished, or more important, than those enumerated in the First Amendment.  It is the hallmark of a free society that the people can speak their minds without fear of retribution from the government or other citizens.  […]

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Watch or Listen to Janine Turner Read: Amendment I: The Free Exercise Clause

Watch or Listen to Janine Turner Read: The First Amendment: The Free Exercise Clause – Guest Essayist: Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty http://vimeo.com/37355534

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Amendment I: The Free Exercise Clause

http://vimeo.com/37355534 “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” The Free Exercise Clause is perhaps the least commonly understood part of the First Amendment. The mythical “average American” presumably understands what freedom of speech means – we protect the right of almost anyone to […]

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Watch or Listen to Janine Turner Read: Amendment I: The Establishment Clause

Watch or Listen to Janine Turner Read: The First Amendment: The Establishment Clause – Guest Essayist: David J. Bobb, Ph.D., director of the Hillsdale College Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship, in Washington, D.C. http://vimeo.com/37285867  

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Amendment I: The Establishment Clause

http://vimeo.com/37285867 The First Amendment:  The Establishment Clause The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment might be less well known today than “the wall of separation between church and state” metaphor used by President Thomas Jefferson in an 1802 letter.  This misinterpreted metaphor has come to define the modern debate over church and state, leading many […]

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The Bill of Rights: America’s Bulwark of Liberty

Click here to buy the poster below! The First Ten Amendments to the United States Constitution make up what is called “The Bill of Rights.”  This remarkable collection of limitations on the power of the national government was written by James Madison and heavily influenced by George Mason.  Today it operates as a barrier to […]

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The Bill of Rights, Purpose and Benefits

http://vimeo.com/37225503 The Philadelphia Convention finished the Constitution and sent it on to Congress and to the states in September 1787. There was no Bill of Rights. George Mason, delegate from Virginia, had suggested adding one at the last minute, but his fellow delegates, who had been in session for three and a half months, wanted […]

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Watch or Listen to Janine Turner Read: “The Amendment Process”

http://vimeo.com/37225231 Watch or Listen to Janine Turner Read: The Amendment Process – Guest Essayist: Dr. Larry P. Arnn,  president of Hillsdale College, and author of The Founders’ Key: The Divine and Natural Connection Between the Declaration and the Constitution and What We Risk by Losing It

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The Amendment Process

Only with a large effort can the Constitution of the United States be formally amended.  This was not an accident, but the intention of its framers. If the Constitution is changed too often and for the wrong reasons, the people of America, the Founders held, will lose reverence for its principles, and respect for its […]

Constituting America to launch third annual 90-day Constitutional Forum

Constituting America to launch third annual 90-day Constitutional Forum Foundation chairman Janine Turner invites citizens to join with historians and scholars in examining Constitution’s 27 amendments and the amendment process As the nation prepares to mark Presidents Day, the non-profit foundation Constituting America is inviting citizens across the nation to join in its third annual 90-day online […]

Happy Valentine’s Day from Constituting America! What Do You Love About the United States Constitution? Tell Us Here, On Our Blog!

What do you love about the United States Constitution? Is it the Checks and Balances? Separation of Powers? The Amendment Process? Blog with us below, and let us know! Coming February 20th! Our 90 Day Study of the Amendments to the United States Constitution! Read, Watch, Listen & Blog with Constitutional Scholars and Constituting America […]

September 17, 2012 marks the 225th Anniversary of the Signing of the United States Constitution!

September 17, 2012 marks the 225th Anniversary of the Signing of the United States Constitution! Make it your New Year’s Resolution to study this magnificent document with Constituting America, your family and friends!  How will you celebrate this landmark year? Below are some ideas: Encourage your kids K-Law School to enter our We The People […]

Protecting Liberty Means Knowing Your Bill of Rights, by Constituting America Founder and Co-Chair Janine Turner

Click Here  to read Constituting America Founder & Co-Chair Janine Turner’s latest Washington Examiner Column: Protecting Liberty Means Knowing Your Bill of Rights! “Living in a time when the Constitution is either ignored or mis-interpreted, we should thank the Anti-Federalist for their perseverance. The clash of the Federalist and Anti-Federalists led to guarantees of liberties that […]

Happy Thanksgiving from Constituting America!

Dear Friends, Happy Thanksgiving! We are pleased to share with you the words of our first President, George Washington, in his 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation! This was the first time Thanksgiving was recognized by the national government in an official proclamation. We are thankful to you, for your support of, prayers for and encouragement of our […]

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Horace Cooper, Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute, discusses Article I, Section 3, Clause 2 in an Interview with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show

Horace Cooper, Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute, visits with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show, Saturday, September 3 on DFW’s KLIF.  Listen as they discuss Professor Joe Postell’s (University of Colorado at Colorado Springs) essay on Article I, Section 3, Clause 2 found in Constituting America’s Analyzing the Constitution project at this link: https://constitutingamerica.org/?p=732

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Professor William Morrisey, William and Patricia LaMothe Chair in the United States Constitution at Hillsdale College and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 3, Clause 1 Essay, Interview with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show

Professor William Morrisey, William and Patricia LaMothe Chair in the United States Constitution at Hillsdale College and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 3, Clause 1 Essay, visits with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show, Saturday, August 27 on DFW’s KLIF. Read Professor Morrisey’s essay here: https://constitutingamerica.org/?p=728.

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Professor William Morrisey, William and Patricia LaMothe Chair in the United States Constitution at Hillsdale College and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 Essay, Interview with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show

Professor William Morrisey, William and Patricia LaMothe Chair in the United States Constitution at Hillsdale College and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 Essay, visits with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show, Saturday, August 20 on DFW’s KLIF. Read Professor Morrisey’s essay here: https://constitutingamerica.org/?p=728.

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William C. Duncan, Director of the Marriage Law Foundation and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 2, Clause 4 Essay, Interview with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show

William C. Duncan, Director of the Marriage Law Foundationand author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 2, Clause 4 essay, visits with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show, on Saturday, August 13, on DFW’s KLIF! Read Mr. Duncan’s essay here: https://constitutingamerica.org/?p=723

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W. B. Allen, Dean Emeritus James Madison College, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University, and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 Essay,

W. B. Allen, Dean Emeritus James Madison College, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University, and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 Essay, visits with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show, on Saturday, August 6, on DFW’s KLIF! Listen as they discuss Professor Allen’s essay on […]

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Horace Cooper, Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute, and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2 Essay,

Horace Cooper, Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute, and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2 Essay, visits with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show, Saturday, July 30 on DFW’s KLIF.  Listen as they discuss Mr. Cooper’s essay on Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2 found in Constituting America’s […]

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Dr. Charles Rowley, Duncan Black Professor of Economics at George Mason University and General Director of The Locke Institute, and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section I Essay,

Dr. Charles Rowley, Duncan Black Professor of Economics at George Mason University and General Director of The Locke Institute, and author of our “90 in 90” Article I, Section I Essay, visits with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show, Saturday, July 23 on DFW’s KLIF.  Listen as they discuss Dr. Rowley’s essay on […]

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Dr. David Bobb, Director of Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship, and author of our “90 in 90” Preamble Essay

Dr. David Bobb, Director and Lecturer in Politics, Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship Hillsdale College visits with Janine Turner on the Janine Turner Radio Show, Saturday, July 16th on DFW’s KLIF.  Listen as they discuss Dr. Bobb’s essay on the Preamble to the United States Constitution,  found in Constituting America’s Analyzing […]

A Letter from Janine Turner re: Analyzing the Constitution

Constituting America Presents Analyzing the Constitution A 90 in 90 Day Forum   What an amazing journey! Ninety days on Constitutional studies initiated, executed and now archived on Constituting America.org! I want to thank all of the distinguished men and women who wrote essays for our forum and those who joined our blog. You brought […]

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Amendment XXVII of the United States Constitution

Amendment XXVII   No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened. Congress is required by Article I, section 6 of the Constitution to determine its own pay.  Prior to 1969, Congress did so by enacting stand-alone legislation.  From 1789 […]

A Letter from Cathy Gillespie re: Analyzing the Constitution

As we come to the end of our 90 Day Journey Analyzing the United States Constitution, I want to join Constituting America Founder and Co-Chair Janine Turner in thanking all those who made this study possible.  We thank our talented and generous constitutional scholars who participated: David Addington Vice President for Domestic and Economic Policy […]

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Amendment XXVI of the United States Constitution

Amendment XXVI 1:  The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age. 2:  The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. The final (or, […]

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Amendment XXV of the United States Constitution

Amendment XXV 1: In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. 2: Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote […]

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Amendment XXIV of the United States Constitution

Amendment XXIV 1:  The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure […]

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Amendment XXIII of the United States Constitution

Amendment XXIII 1:  The District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:   A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a […]

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Amendment XXII of the United States Constitution

Amendment XXII 1: No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the […]

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Amendment XXI of the United States Constitution

Amendment XXI 1:  The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. 2:  The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited. 3:  This article shall be […]

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Amendment XX of the United States Constitution

Amendment XX 1: The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the […]

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Amendment XIX of the United States Constitution

Amendment XIX The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. It is hard to imagine that only 90 years ago, one half of the […]

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Amendment XVIII of the United States Constitution

Amendment XVIII   1:  After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. 2:  The Congress and the several States […]

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Amendment XVII of the United States Constitution

Amendment XVII The Seventeenth Amendment, adopted April 8, 1913, provides as follows: 1: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors […]

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Amendment XVI of the United States Constitution

Amendment XVI The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. At the founding of our nation, the framers decided not to allow the federal government to assess income or other direct taxes unless […]

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Amendment XV of the United States Constitution

Amendment XV The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States […]

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Amendment XIV of the United States Constitution

Amendment XIV 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any […]

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Amendment XIII of the United States Constitution

Amendment XIII Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. The Declaration of Independence, penned in 1776, proclaimed that “All […]

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Amendment XII of the United States Constitution

Amendment XII The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as […]

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Amendment XI of the United States Constitution

Amendment XI The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State Eleventh Amendment Immunity:  Good Legal Fiction On its face, the […]

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Amendment X of the United States Constitution

Amendment X The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. The last amendment in the Bill of Rights, the 10th, is an apt bookend for the 1st.  In fact, taken together with the 9th Amendment, […]

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Amendment IX of the United States Constitution

Amendment IX “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” Despite 220 years of constitutional interpretation, there really isn’t much one can say about the Ninth Amendment.  And that’s just what James Madison and the Framers intended. The Ninth Amendment is that […]

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Amendment VIII of the United States Constitution

Amendment VIII Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. The text of the Eighth Amendment, concise and plain, masks the fluidity that the Supreme Court has assigned to its words. The more intensely scrutinized portion, by far, is the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments. There […]

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Amendment VII of the United States Constitution

Amendment VII In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.     The […]

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Amendment VI of the United States Constitution

Amendment VI   In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the […]

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Amendment V of the United States Constitution

Amendment V No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person […]

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Amendment IV of the United States Constitution

Amendment IV The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be […]

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Amendment III of the United States Constitution

Amendment III No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. In the realm of constitutional law, obscurity knows no better companion than the Third Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. No direct […]

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Amendment II of the United States Constitution

Amendment II A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Like most of the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment was part of a conciliatory program by the Federalists, as promised by James Madison at the […]

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Amendment I of the United States Constitution

Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Perhaps the […]

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Article VII of the United States Constitution

  Article VII The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same. We often conflate the history of our country and our constitution, as if the United States of America burst forth, full-grown, from the head of Zeus at ratification […]

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Article VI of the United States Constitution

Article VI 1: All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 2: This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall […]

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Article V of the United States Constitution

Article V The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part […]

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Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution

  Article IV, Section 4 The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. Here the Framers speak the heart of […]

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Article IV, Section 3 of the United States Constitution

Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1-2 1: New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of […]

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Article IV, Section 2 of the United States Constitution

Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1-3 1: The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. 2: A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the […]

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Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution

Article IV, Section 1 Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.  And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. The desires to both strengthen […]

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Article III, Section 3, Clause 1-2 of the United States Constitution

Article III, Section 3, Clause 1-2 1:  Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.  No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open […]

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Article III, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution

Article III, Section 2, Clause 3 3: The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as […]

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Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution

Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 2: In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such […]

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Article III, Section 2, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution

Article III, Section 2, Clause 1 1: The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;–to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;–to all Cases of admiralty and maritime […]

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Article III, Section 1 of the United States Constitution

Article III, Section 1 The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, […]

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Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 4 The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. Impeachment is the only constitutional way to remove a President (or another official or a judge) for misconduct. Publius notes […]

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Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between […]

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Article II, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 2, Clause 3 3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. The National Labor Relations Board is a federal agency established under Franklin Roosevelt whose assigned duty […]

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Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution

Article 2, Section 2, Clause 2 2: He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, […]

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Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 1: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 8: Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 1, Clause 7 7:  The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.  […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 1, Clause 6:  In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office,9  the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 1, Clause 5   5:  No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 4:  The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. “Chusing the Electors,” or “Interstices and the Constitution” “Interstice” is a word that has long bemused me for […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution

  Article II, Section 1, Clause 3   3:  The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not lie an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress:  but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or […]

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Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution

Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 1:  The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.  He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows Under Article II Section 1, Clause 1 […]

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Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 3:  No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent […]

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Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1 1:  No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing […]

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Article I, Section 09, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 8:  No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States:  And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign […]

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Article I, Section 09, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 7:  No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time. This clause of the Constitution seems utterly unremarkable today.  It […]

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Article I, Section 09, Clause 4-6 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 9, Clause 4-6 4:  No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.7 5:  No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. 6:  No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce […]

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Article I, Section 09, Clause 2-3 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 9, Clause 2 and 3 2:  The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.  3:  No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. The Great Writ.  The writ of habeas […]

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Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1 1: The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 18 of the United States Constitution

  Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18 18:  To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. In a letter to Edward Livingston in 1800, […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 17 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 14-16 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 14-16 14:  To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; 15:  To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; 16:  To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 10-13 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 10-13 10:  To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; 11:  To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; 12:  To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 09 of the United States Constitution

Article I, Section 8, Clause 9  9:  To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; There is much more to these seemingly simple words than meets the eye.  Indeed, one cannot write meaningfully about them without first advancing to Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution:  The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 07-08 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 7-8 7:  To establish Post Offices and post Roads; 8:  To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; Clauses 7 and 8 of Article 1, section 8 demonstrate both the interest […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 05-06 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 8, Clauses 5-6 5:  To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; 6:  To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; When the U.S. Constitution was drafted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 04 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4 4:  To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; Here are two special grants of authority to Congress that the framers of the Constitution agreed were necessary.  The first power is Congress’ authority “to establish an UNIFORM RULE […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 03 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 3:  To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; During the Ratification Debates, the power of Congress under Clause 3 of Article I, Section  8  “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with Indian Tribes” was […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 02 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 2 2:  To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; Article I, Section 8, clause 2, confers on Congress the power to borrow money on the credit of the United States.  Borrowing is simply a means of raising revenue. One can glimpse the importance and ubiquity of this […]

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Article I, Section 08, Clause 01 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1 1:  The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; Article 1, Section 8 […]

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Article I, Section 07, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution

Article I, Section 7, Clause 3 3:  Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or […]

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Article I, Section 07, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 7, Clause 2 2:Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in […]

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Article I, Section 07, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution

Article I, Section 7, Clause 1 1:  All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. Article I, Section 7, addresses the process by which legislation is enacted. Before the general process itself is laid out, clause 1 of […]

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Article I, Section 06, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution

Article I, Section 6, Clause 2 2: No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office […]

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Article I, Section 06, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 6, Clause 1 1:  The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.6   They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the […]

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Article I, Section 05, Clause 3-4 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 5, Clause 3 Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of […]

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Article I, Section 05, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2 Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member. Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution states that, “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members […]

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Article I, Section 05, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 5, Clause 1 1:  Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent […]

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Article I, Section 04, Clause 1-2 of the United States Constitution

 Article I, Section 4, Clauses 1-2 1:  The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators. 2:  The Congress shall […]

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Article I, Section 03, Clause 6-7 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 3, Clause 6-7 6. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.  When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation.  When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside:  And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two […]

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Article I, Section 03, Clause 4-5 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 3, Clause 4-5 4:  The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. 5: The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall […]

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Article I, Section 03, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 3, Clause 3 3:  No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. In setting out […]

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Article I, Section 03, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 3, Clause 2 2:  Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes.  The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at […]

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Article I, Section 02, Clause 5 and Section 3, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5 “The House of Representatives shall chuse the Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.” The Articles of Confederation had established a federal government in which all three powers—legislative, executive, and judicial—resided in one body, the Congress.  This proved unwieldy and ineffectual.  In principle, such […]

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Article I, Section 02, Clause 4 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 2, Clause 4:  When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies. The wisdom and foresight of the Framers of the U.S. Constitution is not manifested only in the substantive principles of constitutional design but also in the details […]

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Article I, Section 02, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution

Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3: Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians […]

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Article I, Section 02, Clause 1-2 of the United States Constitution

Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2 The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. No Person shall be a Representative who […]

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Article I, Section 01 of the United States Constitution

Article I, Section 1 : All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives The Constitution of the United States established three separate branches of the federal government, namely the legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch. […]

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Analyzing the Constitution for 90 Days – The Preamble to the United States Constitution

The Preamble to the United States Constitution We the People  of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the […]

Welcome to Analyzing the Constitution for 90 Days! Reading and Blogging Schedule

Join us for a fascinating 90 Day Study of the United States Constitution!  Each day we will hear from a Constitutional Scholar as we slowly make our way through this amazing document! Blog with us! Let us know your thoughts about the day’s passage, and how it is relevant today!  June 20, 2011 – Amendment XXIII 1:  The District […]

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Federalist No. 1 – Cathy Gillespie

Thursday, April 29th, 2010 We made it to the Federalist Papers! I hope you are as excited as I am to dive into these fascinating op-eds – the media and PR campaign for the Constitution! I am travelling today  – (Howdy from Texas!) And typing in the dark, in a hotel room in Austin, trying not […]

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Federalist No. 1 – Janine Turner

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 Howdy from Texas. Speaking of Texas, be sure to watch tonight’s behind the scene Video Podcast! I filmed it at my ranch with Juliette. It’s fun. So today is our first day of the Federalist! Federalist Paper #1 by the brilliant Alexander Hamilton! I wrote about his mother, Rachel Lavien Fawcett […]

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Federalist No. 1, General Introduction, For the Independent Journal (Hamilton)

The Federalist Papers were written from 1787 to 1788 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay.   They were published in several New York State newspapers to persuade New York voters to ratify the proposed constitution that had been crafted at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787.  Numbering 85, the essays outlined the ways the new […]

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April 29, 2010 – Federalist No. 2 – Cathy Gillespie

Friday, April 30th, 2010 Some great discussion going on!  Love the give and take. I am learning so much from everyone’s analysis and comments, so I thought tonight I would highlight some of the quotes from Federalist No. 2, and from the posts and blog comments which especially resonate with me. My good friend, Marc Lampkin, […]

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April 29, 2010 – Federalist No. 2 – Janine Turner

Thursday, April 29th, 2010 Howdy from Texas! I thank you for joining us today! I am thoroughly enjoying this process and I am learning so much from the readings, our exceptional scholar’s essays and from all of you who are blogging. I want to say how appreciative I am that Marc S. Lampkin joined us […]

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Federalist No. 2 – Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence, for the Independent Journal (Jay)

Thursday, April 29th, 2010 Federalist Paper #2 was written by future Federalist party chieftain John Jay to address what many founders felt was a critical deficiency regarding the then existing government authorized by the Articles of Confederation.  The deficiency was the major vulnerability the young nation faced because it lacked sufficient national authority to defend […]

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April 30, 2010 – Federalist No. 3 – Cathy Gillespie

Saturday, May 1st, 2010 Howdy from Texas! I am still here in the Lone Star State for a few more days.   Tonight Janine and I were honored to be invited to a wonderful gathering hosted by our friends Don Hodges and David Thompson and many new and old friends in Dallas to fill them in […]

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April 30, 2010 – Federalist No. 3 – Janine Turner

Friday, April 30th, 2010 Howdy from Texas. I thank you for joining us today and I thank today’s guest scholar, William B. Allen, for his words of wisdom about Federalist Paper #3. Thanks William! What I continue to find fascinating is how the Federalist Papers are consistently relevant today. John Jay’s Federalist Paper #3 is […]

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April 30, 2010 – Federalist No. 3 – The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers From Foreign Force and Influence (Jay) – Guest Blogger: W. B. Allen, Professor of Political Philosophy at Michigan State University

Friday, April 30th, 2010 Essay # 3 investigates the causes of war. Publius seems to raise the question, not merely from curiosity but rather because it’s important to be prepared to prevail in war and also to place one’s state in the position to avoid war. The Federalist Papers seem to adopt this perspective in […]

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May 3, 2010 – Federalist No. 4 – Cathy Gillespie

May 3, 2010 – Federalist No. 4 – Cathy Gillespie Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 Hello from Virginia! I made it back from Texas in the wee hours of the morning, thanks to some thunderstorms and unexpected equipment on the runway at Reagan National Airport! To all who have been posting – Thank you!! We invite […]

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May 3, 2010 – Federalist No. 4 – Janine Turner

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 Howdy from Texas! Welcome to our third week of “90 in 90 – History Holds the Key to the Future.” I can’t believe it is the third week. I thank you for joining us and for all of your thought provoking blogs!! I thank William B. Allen for his wonderful, insightful […]

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Federalist No. 4 – The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence, for the Independent Journal (Jay)

Saturday, May 1st, 2010 Having established the “utility” of the Union for avoiding foreign wars, Publius proceeds to reinforce the argument in essay number four. In the second paragraph he acknowledged the claim that the United States should avoid inviting hostilities, insults, from other nations. But the third paragraph shows how difficult that might be.  […]

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May 4, 2010 – Federalist No. 5 – Janine Turner

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 Howdy from Texas. What a great conversation today. I have to tell you guys, or y’all, I am really learning from not only our guest scholars, but from you who blog. Today was a most thought provoking dialogue. I thank you for joining us and for spreading the word about our […]

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May 4, 2010 – Federalist No. 5 – Cathy Gillespie

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 A big thank you to Horace Cooper for serving as our Guest Blogger for Federalist No. 5.  Excellent analysis from Horace, and great discussion!  Thank you to everyone for participating!   I would like to share a few of the lines and thoughts  from today’s post and blog comments that particulary resonated with […]

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May 4, 2010 – Federalist No. 5 Concerning Dangers From Foreign Force and Influence (continued) Guest Blogger: Horace Cooper, Legal Commentator and Director of the Institute for Liberty’s Center for Law and Regulation

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 John Jay continues explaining the need for a United States of America as opposed to either an association of 13 separate and individual states or a collection of three or four nation states.  Jay explains his view that there were significant arguments in favor of a union, specifically by arguing that […]

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May 5, 2010 – Federalist No. 6 – Cathy Gillespie

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 Hi everyone – thank you to Professor Allen for your enlightening essay! And thank you to everyone for your comments today. I love the realism of Alexander Hamilton: “men are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious. To look for a continuation of harmony between a number of independent, unconnected sovereignties in the same […]

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May 5, 2010 – Federalist No. 6 – Janine Turner

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 Howdy from Texas! I thank y’all for joining us! Federalist No. 6 is yet another fascinating reading. Yes? I want to thank our Constitutional scholar, W.B. Allen, for breaking down Federalist Paper No. 6 with such superb detail. Thanks Mr. Allen! The complexity of this particular paper is mesmerizing. I am […]

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May 5, 2010 – Federalist No. 6 – Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States, for the Indpendent Journal (Hamilton) – Guest Blogger: W. B. Allen, Dean and Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 Federalist #6 Essay number five closed with recognition that what is decisive in human communities is the political distinction, the political identity. That settles the question of what is “near and dear.” That distinction lies at the root of warfare. It follows accordingly that one lessens the chance of war by […]

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May 6, 2010 – Federalist No. 7 – Janine Turner

Thursday, May 6th, 2010 Howdy from Texas. I thank you for joining us today! I, also thank Professor W.B. Allen for his essay. As I was reading his essay today I realized how grateful I am that he has graced us with his wisdom and that he, and our other guest scholars, have so deftly […]

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May 6, 2010 – Federalist No. 7 – Cathy Gillespie

Thursday, May 6th, 2010 Welcome to Federalist No. 7 – 90 in 90 = 180: History Holds the Key to the Future!!!! Are you all watching Janine’s Behind the Scenes Videos? http://gallery.me.com/janineturner62#gallery Tonight she gives a shout out to the Constitutional Scholar Guest Bloggers! Please check these videos out for the lighter side of Constituting […]

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May 6, 2010 – Federalist No. 7 – The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States, for the Indpendent Journal (Hamilton) – Guest Blogger: W. B. Allen, Dean and Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University

Thursday, May 6th, 2010 Federalist # 7 Publius in the seventh essay of The Federalist Papers focuses entirely on examples of the kinds of disputes that could, in the event of disunion, reduce the United States into a replica of the European wars that had long colored that continent. The examples cover territorial disputes, commercial […]

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May 7, 2010 – Federalist No. 8 – Cathy Gillespie

Friday, May 7th, 2010 Thank you all for another week of wonderful insights! Please encourage the children in your life to sign up online for our We The People 9.17 Contest!  We are looking for entries especially in the short film and PSA categories for high school!  Middle school and high school students can also […]

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May 7, 2010 – Federalist No. 8 – Janine Turner

Friday, May 7th, 2010 Today was yet another stimulating reading. Your blog comments have been thought provoking as well. I thank you and I, also, once again, thank Professor W.B. Allen for his astute interpretation. After reading both Federalist Paper No. 8 and Professor Allen’s essay here is what I have gleaned: With the birth […]

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May 7, 2010 – Federalist No. 8 – The Consequences of Hostilities Between the States, From the New York Packet (Hamilton) – Guest Blogger: W. B. Allen, Dean and Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University

Friday, May 7th, 2010 Federalist #8 The eighth essay presents a hypothetical case of a dis-United States. But it is the general argument that has been built that is germane to understanding the argument. Publius is aware of a “new politics” that has come to be, but Publius is no less aware that it will […]

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May 10, 2010 – Federalist No. 9 – Cathy Gillespie

Monday, May 10th, 2010 Thank you Professor Knipprath for yet another enlightening essay! In Federalist 1, A General Introduction, Hamilton asserted that a wrong decision on this “important question” of whether or not to ratify the United States Constitution, would “deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.” Federalist 9 reminds us of […]

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May 10, 2010 – Federalist No. 9 – Janine Turner

Monday, May 10th, 2010  Howdy from Texas. I want to thank you for joining us today and I thank Professor Knippratch for his most insightful essay today!!! Thank you, Professor Knippratch. I am in the middle of tornados whirling through our ranch so I have to make this brief. I am once again amazed […]

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May 10, 2010 – Federalist No. 9 – The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection, for the Indpendent Journal (Hamilton) – Guest Blogger: Joerg Knipprath, Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School

Sunday, May 9th, 2010 Federalist Papers 9 and 10, though written by two different authors (Hamilton and Madison, respectively), both address the benefits from large “confederate republics” for internal peace and political stability. Of the two, Federalist 9 is the less momentous, but it raises a number of points that apply as well to other […]

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Federalist No. 10 – Janine Turner

Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Mesmerizing. I agree with Professor Knipprath words, “Federalist No. 10 is a masterpiece of political theory and insight into human psychology. Almost every sentence is worth studying.” Well said, Professor Knipprath and your essay today is quite brilliant, too, and thought provoking, as well. I thank you for your devotion to “Constituting […]

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May 11, 2010 – Federalist No. 10 – Cathy Gillespie

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 It’s been exciting to see so many blog participants today! A big thank you to those who are with us every day, and an enthusiastic welcome to some of our newer folks!   Each of you brings a unique and valuable perspective to these pieces.  The larger the group we hear from, […]

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Federalist No. 10 – The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection, From the New York Packet (Madison)

Federalist 10 is a masterpiece of political theory and insight into human psychology. Almost every sentence is worth studying. The central theme, “republicanism,” carries over from its predecessor. At the core of classic republicanism, going back to the ancient Greek and Roman writers, lies “virtue.” Aristotle, Polybius, and Cicero, among others, saw an essential connection […]

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May 12, 2010 – Federalist No. 11 – Cathy Gillespie

Thursday, May 13th, 2010 You all are kicking up some dust in the comments today! I love the back and forth. And thank you to Dr. Postell for your essay! We appreciate your participation and guidance. Thank you also to Constituting America’s founder and co-chair Janine Turner for her brilliant essay, published early today!  I […]

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May 12, 2010 – Federalist No. 11 – Janine Turner

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 Well, I had great fun reading Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Paper No. 11, especially toward the end of the paper, where he makes a statement regarding Europe: “The superiority she has long maintained, has tempted her to plume herself as the mistress of the world, and to consider the rest of mankind […]

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Federalist No. 11 – The Utility of the Union in Respect to Commercial Relations and a Navy, for the Independent Journal (Hamilton) – Guest Blogger: Dr. Joe Postell, Assistant Director of the Center for American Studies, the Heritage Foundation

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 Federalist #11 Over the past century, as America has become more involved in world affairs, many are wondering what the Founders would have said about such a trend.  Federalist #11 gives us a glimpse of how the Founders approached questions of international politics.  What we see is that the Founders were […]

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Federalist No. 12 – Cathy Gillespie

Friday, May 14th, 2010 Federalist Number 12 Thank you to Dr. Paul Teller for your insightful post today, and to Dr. Joe Postell for your enlightening post yesterday! We are blessed to have Constitutional scholars such as yourselves helping us on our journey through the Federalist Papers!  And thank you to everyone who continues to […]

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Federalist No. 12 – Janine Turner

Friday, May 14th, 2010 As I read each day one of the Federalist Papers, my goal is to see the true intention of our Constitutional forefathers and also to see how it is relevant today. Their wisdom and foresight continue to astound me. “A prosperous commerce is now perceived and acknowledged, by all enlightened statesmen, […]

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Federalist No. 12 – The Utility of the Union In Respect to Revenue, from the New York Packet (Hamilton) – Guest Blogger: Paul S. Teller, Ph.D., Executive Director of the RSC

Thursday, May 13th, 2010 In Federalist 12, Hamilton seeks to convince skeptical states that forming a union will increase and regularize a revenue stream.  His main argument centers on the assumption that the best source of revenue is the taxation of consumption, particularly consumption from abroad.  He takes great effort to dispel any possible advantages […]

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Federalist No. 13 – Cathy Gillespie

Friday, May 14th, 2010 A big thank you to Dr. Morrisey for his insights today on Federalist 13, and his broader thoughts on the themes  of Federalist 1–14. We especially appreciate Dr. Morrisey coming back later in the day! The exchange between Dr. Morrisey and  Marc Stauffer on the relationship between economics and morality hit […]

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Federalist No. 13 – Janine Turner

Friday, May 14th, 2010 What a great dialogue today. I thank all of you for joining and I also thank Dr. Will Morrisey for his wonderful interpretation of today’s paper and The Federalist in general. It was super grand that Dr. Morrisey revisited our blog throughout the day! Thank you, Dr. Morrisey! I feel lucky […]

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Federalist No. 13 – Advantage of the Union in Respect to Economy in Government, for the Independent Journal (Hamilton)

Friday, May 14th, 2010 Federalist 13: Why Union? Always, Americans face two questions: the question of regime; the question of the modern state. By “regime” I mean three things: who rules; by what forms or institutions the rulers rule; and what way of life rulers and ruled will lead.  These three dimensions of the regime […]

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Federalist No. 14 – Janine Turner

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 Howdy from Texas. I hope you had a nice weekend. I started reading a wonderful book this weekend, which I have found to be a great companion piece to our “90 in 90 = 180.” It is entitled, “Miracle at Philadelphia,” by Catherine Drinker Bowen. Check it out! I thank Professor […]

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Federalist No. 14 – Cathy Gillespie

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 Federalist #14 First, a big thank you to Dr. Allen for his insightful comments.  As usual, Dr. Allen does much more than simply explain to us what is in the reading, he takes us several steps further. And thank you to all of you who commented today.  Especially to Kay for […]

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Federalist No. 14 – Objections to the Proposed Constitution From Extent of Territory Answered, From the New York Packet (Madison)

Sunday, May 16th, 2010 In the fourteenth essay Publius argues that America has discovered the merit of making the mechanical principle of representation the basis of unmixed and extensive republics. This is not only an extended republic, but it is a republic in which we do not have to make a special place for the […]

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Federalist No. 15 – Cathy Gillespie

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 Have you been watching Janine’s Behind the Scenes Videos? They are fantastic! Last night Juliette Turner, Constituting America Youth Director, talked about the We The People 9.17 Contest, and how important it is that young people understand the Constitution and founding principles of our country!  Check out these fun, short videos […]

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Federalist No. 15 – Janine Turner

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 Relevancy today. It is very clear in Federalist Paper No. 15 that cohesion between the states was necessary in order to preserve our union in a viable way. Our guest scholar, Professor Allison Hayward, (I thank you Professor Hayward for your wonderful essay!) speculates about the future of today’s European Union, […]

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Federalist No. 15 – The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union, For the Independent Journal (Hamilton)

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 Federalist #15 Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist 15 is a gloomy counterweight to Madison’s optimistic Number 14. Madison ended No. 14 praising the noble course set by the founders of the new nation. Hamilton’s No. 15 is like a splash of cold water, reminding citizens of the moment’s terrible perils. And the troubles […]

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Federalist No. 16 – Cathy Gillespie

Thursday, May 20th, 2010 A big thank you to our guest blogger Marc Lampkin! Marc, thank you for guiding us today! I so appreciate all of you who take the time to comment.  You often see nuggets of wisdom in these papers that I have glossed over on my first reading, and your posts send […]

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Federalist No. 16 – Janine Turner

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 I want to let you know that I have begun a short film with my daughter for my “Daily Behind the Scenes Videos.” Tonight is Part 1. Check it out. The link is on the website on the home page or the link to the YouTube version is on the Constituting […]

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Federalist No. 16 – The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union, From the New York Packet (Hamilton)

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 Federalist #16 In Federalist #16, Alexander Hamilton continues to outline the deficiencies of the present system of government authorized under the Articles of Confederation.  It is Hamilton’s view that the loose confederation will lead to lawlessness and ultimately anarchy once the inability to enforce its own laws becomes apparent. This exceptionable […]

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Federalist No. 17 – Cathy Gillespie

Thursday, May 20th, 2010 What a great discussion we’ve had on Federalist No. 17!  Thank you to William C. Duncan for his insightful comments!  Dr. Morrisey, thank you for joining us today with your contributions as well! In Federalist 17 Hamilton addresses the concerns of the anti-federalists by making the case that the national government will […]

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Federalist No. 17 – Janine Turner

Thursday, May 20th, 2010 Where did we go wrong as a country that we let the Federal government overtake the states? This was obviously not the intent of our founding fathers. As explained in Federalist Paper No. 16, the communities and local passions were to always be the stronghold against the homogeneous nature that springs […]

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Federalist No. 17 – The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union, For the Independent Journal (Hamilton)

Thursday, May 20th, 2010 One of the most significant criticisms of the proposed Constitution was that it would eviscerate the autonomy and authority of the individual States. As Alexander Hamilton described it, the argument was that the Constitution “would tend to render to government of the union too powerful, and to enable it to absorb […]

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Federalist No. 18 – Cathy Gillespie

Friday, May 21st, 2010 Another week of 90 in 90: History Holds the Key to the Future draws to a close!  Thank you to Andrew Langer for your participation as a Guest Constitutional Blogger! And thank you to everyone who is posting such well thought out and researched comments. In Federalist 18, the founding fathers […]

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Federalist No. 18 – Janine Turner

Friday, May 21st, 2010 Today my 12-year-old daughter read Federalist Paper No. 18 to me as I was driving her to ballet class after school. As she was reading, she would stop to look up words she didn’t know and yet had some understanding of the culture because she has been studying Latin and Greek […]

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Federalist No. 18 – The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union, For the Independent Journal (Hamilton & Madison)

Friday, May 21st, 2010 Federalist #18 What sets the founding of the American republic apart from the founding of so many nations on Earth was the depth and breadth of knowledge, research, analysis and debate that went into it.  This is made evident from Madison’s Federalist #18, written under his pseudonym “Publius”.  In 18, Madison […]

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Federalist No. 19 – Janine Turner

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 Howdy from Texas! I hope “y’all” had a great weekend. I hope you had a chance to start reading, ‘Miracle at Philadelphia.” It is such a great companion piece to what we are doing and did y’all watch the History Channel’s, “America: the Story of US?” It is fantastic! I thank […]

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Federalist No. 19 – Cathy Gillespie

Monday, May 24th, 2010 Professor Knipprath, thank you for an essay that goes way beyond Federalist 19, addressing the natural order of the universe!  Your observations not only reflect what we have seen in history, but also what we are seeing in our country today. Federalist 19 continues to reveal to us that the United […]

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Federalist No. 19 – The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union, For the Independent Journal (Hamilton & Madison)

Monday, May 24th, 2010 E Pluribus Unum. “Out of Many, One.” This aphorism is one of the mottos adopted by the Confederation Congress in 1782 for the Great Seal of the new United States. It not just describes the union of states that was put together through the efforts of the Second Continental Congress. That […]

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Federalist No. 20 – Cathy Gillespie

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 “Experience is the oracle of truth; and where its responses are unequivocal, they ought to be conclusive and sacred.” Thank you Mr. Duncan for your excellent observation that the founders relied on experience to ascertain truth, not “their unaided ability to reason out new solutions,” not “subtle thinking and cleverness,” and definitely […]

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Federalist No. 20 – Janine Turner

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 The Ransom of Reason Reason be and reason we Away our distant shores Wander not and wanton trot Afraid of written mores Did we not through seasons see The meaning, yet for many We forgot the how, We riddled out the penny “I know this and I know that Believe me […]

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Federalist No. 20 – The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union, from the New York Packet (Hamilton & Madison)

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 Federalist 20 is one of a series of essays that discuss the governmental precedents of other nations as illustrations of some of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. In it, James Madison discusses the Netherlands, painting a picture of a weak government held together by a strong magistrate and the […]

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Federalist No. 21 – Janine Turner

Thursday, May 27th, 2010 Well, small business profits are on the decline and government provided benefits are on the rise. Carolyn, I read your blog and I also heard about these frightening statistics today. Socialism is rearing its ugly head. Next will be the general demise of spirit and motivation in our country. This exact […]

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Federalist No. 21 – Cathy Gillespie

Thursday, May 27th, 2010 Yesterday, May 25, 2010, marked the 223 anniversary of the convening of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.  The National Constitution Center is sponsoring an innovative Twitter program which Constituting America is promoting: www.twitter.com/secretdelegate . The premise is that a rogue delegate is secretly “tweeting” from the Constitutional Convention and giving us […]

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Federalist No. 21 – Other Defects of the Present Confederation, For the Independent Journal (Hamilton)

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 The Federalist #21: In Defense of Politics Hamilton opens Federalist #21 with a continuation of a theme:  it will be easier to understand the need to adopt the new Constitution if the defects of the old Articles of Confederation are better understood.  He embarks on an effort to outline what he […]

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Federalist No. 22 – Janine Turner

Friday, May 28th, 2010 Why write many paragraphs when a few lines will do, three lines to be exact, from Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist No. 22? 1. Though the genius of the people of this country.. 2. Its opposition contradicts that fundamental maxim of Republican government, which requires that the sense of the majority shall prevail. […]

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Federalist No. 22 – Cathy Gillespie

Thursday, May 27th, 2010 Thank you Dr. Morrissey for walking us through Federalist No. 22!  Publius certainly covers a lot of ground in this Federalist Paper!  If only our current elected officials would take the time to methodically explain major proposed legislation in this manner.   Our “sound bite” culture and collective short attention span does […]

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Federalist No. 22 – The Same Subject Continued: Other Defects of the Present Confederation, From the New York Packet (Hamilton)

Thursday, May 27th, 2010 The Federalist #22: In Defense of Politics Publius here concludes his critique of the old constitution, the Articles of Confederation, a critique he began with Federalist #15.  To understand this critique, we need to step back and consider the problem the Founders intended to solve: Can modern states practice politics?  This […]

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Federalist No. 23 – Cathy Gillespie

Saturday, May 29th, 2010 As I read Federalist 23, I thought about attacks the United States has endured in the last century: especially the air attack on Pearl Harbor, and September 11, when hijacked commercial airliners were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93 was crashed before it […]

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Federalist No. 23 – Janine Turner

Saturday, May 29th, 2010 Today, our guest Constitutional Scholar of the day, Mr. Troy Kickler’s, insightful essay states, “Hamilton and other Federalists believed, write constitutional scholars Colleen A. Sheehan and Gary L. McDowell, that interest, reputation, and duty would bind the representatives to the Constitution and public opinion.” I find this quote intriguing, especially the […]

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Federalist No. 23 – The Necessity of a Government as Energetic as the One Proposed to the Preservation of the Union, From the New York Packet (Hamilton)

Friday, May 28th, 2010 Federalist #23 When Alexander Hamilton attended the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, he was thirty-six years old.  Despite his young age he was a leading statesman, who was knowledgeable not only regarding current events at home and abroad but also the classics and the historical lessons that they contain. The future, […]

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Federalist Paper No. 24 & 25 – Janine Turner

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 On this Memorial Day season, I think it is appropriate to truly contemplate and think about the soldiers and families who have sacrificed their lives and loved ones, and given their time and dedication to our country. Sometimes it is beyond reach to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and feel, […]

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Federalist No. 24 – Cathy Gillespie

Monday, May 31st, 2010 It is interesting that in the early days of the republic, people feared a standing army. The Pennsylvania and North Carolina Constitutions went so far as to say, “As standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, THEY OUGHT NOT to be kept up.”  This was a legitimate fear, […]

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A Memorial Day Message from Constituting America

On this Memorial Day, 2010, let us remember and give thanks for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the preservation of our freedom.  Let us honor them by thanking those brave men and women currently serving in our military, and our veterans. It is fitting that the Federalist Papers we are reading this weekend […]

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Federalist No. 24 – The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered, For the Independent Journal (Hamilton)

Monday, May 31st, 2010 Federalist 24 Allison R. Hayward Federalist 24 continues Hamilton’s argument in favor of strong national government for national security purposes.  Here, he addresses the explicit complaint that the Constitution would permit standing armies in peacetime. Critics of the Constitution feared that standing armies would become either a tool for those in […]

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We The People 9.17 Contest Update and Federalist No. 25 – Cathy Gillespie

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 DON’T MISS!! Juliette Turner’s newest video about our contest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNnhC3F5nJE   We are almost one month away from our We The People 9.17 Contest entry deadline of July 4.  We need everyone’s help in recruiting kids to enter!  We have been told email is the most effective means of recruiting entries […]

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Federalist No. 24 & 25 – Janine Turner

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 On this Memorial Day season, I think it is appropriate to truly contemplate and think about the soldiers and families who have sacrificed their lives and loved ones, and given their time and dedication to our country. Sometimes it is beyond reach to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and feel, […]

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Federalist No. 25 – The Same Subject Continued: The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered, From the New York Packet (Hamilton)

Monday, May 31st, 2010 Alexander Hamilton began his Revolutionary War service as a member of a New York militia unit. He then joined the Continental Army as an artillery officer and became General Washington’s adjutant in 1777. After resigning that post, he persuaded Washington to give him a position as a field commander at the […]

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Federalist No. 26 – Janine Turner

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 “…the state legislatures, who will always be not only vigilant, but suspicious and jealous guardians of the rights of the citizens, against encroachments from the federal government, will constantly have their attention awake to the conduct of the national rulers, and will be ready enough, if anything improper appears, to sound […]

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Federalist No. 26 – Cathy Gillespie

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 Thanks to everyone who joined our discussion today, and to our Guest Constitutional Scholar Bloggers, Daren Bakst and Troy Kickler! I asked you all last night to help us recruit kids to enter the We The People 9.17 Contest, Entries due July 4!  Thank you!! We have had several new online […]

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Federalist No. 26 – The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered, For the Independent Journal (Hamilton)

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 At the start of Federalist No. 26, Alexander Hamilton addresses the challenging balancing act required between legislative power and liberty.  Using this as a jumping off point, he makes the case that the legislature must have the power to provide for the national defense. While he acknowledges the balancing of interests, […]

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Federalist No. 27 – Cathy Gillespie

Friday, June 4th, 2010 Thank you to our Guest Constitutional Scholar Blogger, Julia Shaw!  And thank you to all who posted your comments today. While reading Federalist 27, I found myself thinking, “How was Hamilton so wrong?” He begins by arguing with one of the premises of the anti-federalists: “As far as I have been […]

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Federalist No. 27 – Janine Turner

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 “Man is a creature of habit. A thing that rarely strikes his senses, will have but a transient influence upon his mind.”  Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 27. Bingo. Once again, from the minds of Publius rings relevancy today. The United States Constitution is a thing that rarely strikes the senses […]