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The Constitution and the Founders
110 posts, newest first (page 3 of 5).
Madison Explained the Republic Versus Democracy Difference in Federalist 14Madison drew the line between a democracy and a republic in Federalist 14. Read it closely and learn when calling America a democracy misleads. Hamilton Argued in Federalist 84 That a Bill of Rights Could Be DangerousHamilton warned that listing rights would invite claims to powers never granted. Read Federalist 84 closely and test his warning against history. Federalist 62 Warned That Mutable Laws Betray a Free PeopleFederalist 62 explains the Senate's design and warns that laws too long to read or too changeable to predict turn liberty into a mockery. Federalist 47 Defines Tyranny as All Powers Gathered Into the Same HandsMadison called the gathering of legislative, executive and judicial power into one set of hands the very definition of tyranny. Apply his test to agencies. Few and Defined, the Promise About Federal Power in Madison's Federalist 45Madison promised federal powers would be few and defined and state powers numerous and indefinite. Here is the promise, and how it has been kept. Federalist 39 Shows the Constitution Is Partly National and Partly FederalMadison answered the charge of consolidation with five tests showing the new government was national in some respects and federal in others. Federalist 10 Explains Why a Large Republic Tames Faction BestMadison argued that faction cannot be cured without killing liberty, so a free country must control its effects through representation and size. Seven Myths About the Declaration of Independence, Checked Against the RecordSeven things Americans learn about the Declaration, from the July 4 signing to the Liberty Bell to its secularism, tested against the documents. July 2, July 4, August 2, the Dates Behind the Declaration of IndependenceIndependence was voted July 2, the text adopted July 4 and most signatures added August 2. A dated timeline of how it happened and why each step mattered. The Grievance List in the Declaration Reads Like a Charge Sheet Against PowerThe skipped middle of the Declaration is a catalogue of abuses, and nearly every charge became a clause of the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. The Declaration's Second Paragraph Is a Complete Theory of GovernmentIn about two hundred words the Declaration says where rights come from, why governments exist, who gives them power and when the people may change them. Hamilton the Constitutionalist Was Not the Monarchist His Enemies PaintedOne long speech in 1787 earned Hamilton the monarchist label, but his real constitutional work defended a limited republic with an energetic executive. John Adams Wrote the Oldest Working Written Constitution in the WorldThe Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, drafted by John Adams, is still in force and taught the federal Framers how to separate power and declare rights. Madison Changed His Mind on a Bill of Rights, and His Reasons Still TeachMadison called bills of rights parchment barriers, then wrote one and forced it through a reluctant First Congress. Why he changed still matters. George Mason Refused to Sign, and His Objections Became the Bill of RightsMason wrote Virginia's Declaration of Rights, helped draft the Constitution and refused to sign it. Then his objection became the Bill of Rights. Washington Spoke Once at the Convention and Still Made the Constitution PossibleWashington barely spoke at the Convention, yet his presence gave it authority, and the expectation he would be President shaped Article II. Franklin's Closing Speech Asked Delegates to Doubt Themselves and Sign AnywayOn September 17, 1787, an 81-year-old Franklin asked the delegates to doubt their own infallibility and sign. Read his words closely, line by line. Gouverneur Morris Wrote the Final Words of the Constitution and Spoke the MostThe peg-legged New Yorker who out-talked the Convention also wrote its final text, the Preamble included. His career shows how a free charter gets made. Madison Kept the Idea of Property in Men Out of the Constitution's WordsThe Framers bargained with slavery but refused to name it, and that refusal handed abolitionists a Constitution they could stand on. The Three-Fifths Clause Limited Slaveholder Power and Measured No One's WorthThe clause was about counting seats, not weighing souls. The slaveholders wanted their slaves counted in full, and the clause stopped them. The Connecticut Compromise Passed by One Vote on July 16, 1787The equal Senate and the population-based House survived by a single state's margin after weeks in which the Convention nearly broke apart. The Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan and the Final Constitution ComparedPut the two rival plans of 1787 beside the signed Constitution and you can see exactly who won what, and why the result fits a large federal republic. James Wilson, the Forgotten Founder Who Put the People at the CenterJames Wilson signed the Declaration and the Constitution and argued that all power flows from the people. Why he matters, and why he is forgotten. Hamilton at Poughkeepsie, How New York Ratified by Three VotesNew York's convention opened with opponents holding a large majority and ratified 30 to 27 on July 26, 1788. How argument and events turned it.
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