Founders Archives - Independence Institute

Understanding the Constitution: How the document was composed 0
- August 26, 2021
In drafting the U.S. Constitution, the framers composed a document unique for its balance and beauty.
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Defending the Constitution: Why the Founders couldn’t abolish slavery 0
- April 4, 2021
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.
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The Founders as Mythology 0
- September 7, 2014
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
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A Response to Professor Seidman 0
- January 4, 2013
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
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A Colonial Pamphlet Helps Show Why the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause Granted No Power 0
- July 11, 2012
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
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