The ideas that formed the Constitution: Coke, Blackstone, and English law
British institutions were important (although not controlling) models for the American Constitution-makers. For example, the Constitution’s bicameral federal Congress had some similarities with the British Parliament. The Constitution built on the British concept of...
The ideas that formed the Constitution: Vattel and the Law of Nations
Within the Constitution’s text are meanings most purported constitutional experts never see. They fail to see those meanings because they don’t take the trouble to learn enough about the environment in which the Constitution arose. Suppose you’re reading a novel in...
The ideas that formed the Constitution: Jean-Louis DeLolme and “We the People…”
Writers on the Constitution seldom mention the name of Jean-Louis DeLolme. This is unfortunate, because DeLolme’s book on the English political system significantly influenced those who participated in the constitutional debates of 1787–1790. The Constitution’s...