Vergil: Poet Laureate of the American Founding
Vergil’s poetry was an inspiration for the Founders and is the basis for all three mottos on the Great Seal of the United States.
The Founders and the Constitution, Part 10: Gouverneur Morris
Morris, who put the final finish on the Constitution, was a fierce opponent of slavery.
New Video! Caldara interviews Natelson on the Founders and the Constitution
This video tells some of the Constitution’s “back story.”
The Founders and the Constitution, Part 1: Introduction
Although the men profiled in this series often disagreed with each other, each played a part of which Americans can be proud.
The ideas that formed the Constitution, Part 16: John Locke and the Ninth Amendment
Locke’s writings contained many specific observations realized in the Constitution
The ideas that formed the Constitution, Part 13: Tacitus
The most important lesson the Founders learned from Tacitus was that power corrupts.
Understanding the Constitution: How the document was composed
In drafting the U.S. Constitution, the framers composed a document unique for its balance and beauty.
Defending the Constitution: Why the Founders couldn’t abolish slavery
Before criticizing the Founders, w]e must understand the choice they faced: (1) tolerating a vile institution that was (then) dying anyway or (2) consigning the American continent to perpetual warfare at a cost of millions of lives and incalculable misery.
The Founders as Mythology
Recently when commenting on how Americans view the Founding, an associate of mine observed that in many people’s minds the Founders had become mythological rather than historical figures. That is, many people routinely ascribe ideas and actions—both good and bad, wise and stupid—to them that have little to do with historical reality or even human […]
A Response to Professor Seidman
Should we acknowledge that the U.S. Constitution is filled with “archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions,” and “extricat[e] ourselves from constitutional bondage” by cashiering the document? “As the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken,” argues Louis Michael Seidman, tasked with […]
A Colonial Pamphlet Helps Show Why the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause Granted No Power
Learn more: Hear a podcast on this subject. As I have noted before (for example, here and here) pamphlets written in support of the colonial cause during the years 1763-1774 help us greatly in understanding the language of the Constitution. Unfortunately, most constitutional writers regularly overlook those pamphlets—one reason mistakes of constitutional interpretation are so […]
