The Founders and the Constitution, Part 3: James Madison
Madison was the most important single individual in the Constitution’s formation.
The end of representative government?
None of the four “progressive” mega-donors had any personal connections to most of the legislative districts they targeted. They didn’t live there, didn’t own property there, and in most cases probably had never seen the district.
The ideas that formed the Constitution, Part 21: Coke, Blackstone, and English law
The framers wrote the Constitution with Anglo-American jurisprudence in mind.
The ideas that formed the Constitution, Part 20: Vattel and the Law of Nations
During the 17th and 18th centuries, five great scholars forged international law into its modern shape. The American Founders relied on their work.
New Video on the Limits of Congress’s Commerce Clause Power
Congress’ effort to regulate Indian child placement is unconstitutional.
The ideas that formed the Constitution, Part 19: Jean-Louis DeLolme: ‘We the People …’
The source of the Constitution’s first three words was very likely Jean-Louis DeLolme.
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 15: James Harrington & Algernon Sidney
John Adams featured Harrington in the first volume of his encyclopedia of republican governments, which circulated at the Constitutional Convention.
The framers explained why the Constitutional Convention had authority to propose the Constitution
Key framers explained why the Constitutional Convention had authority to propose a new form of government.
The ideas that formed the Constitution, Part 14: Machiavelli
The Founders were far more interested in Machiavelli’s “Discourses on Livy” than in “The Prince.”
The ideas that formed the Constitution, Part 13: Tacitus
The most important lesson the Founders learned from Tacitus was that power corrupts.
No, a Convention of States Could Not Change the “One State/One Vote” Rule
Could a convention of states could change the “one state/one vote” rule to one based on population? The short answer is “No.” In at least 42 conventions of states and colonies over 350+years, there is no precedent for such a change. The possibility exists only in the fantasies of convention opponents. Defenders of the federal […]
