The ideas that formed the Constitution: John Locke and the Ninth Amendment
John Locke (1632β1704) was one of the greatest figures in English scholarship. His influence on the American Founding was enormous. Some have referred to him as a βFounding Grandfather.β Locke shared points of similarity with many other figures profiled in this...
The ideas that formed the Constitution: James Harrington and Algernon Sidney
In the 17th century, England, which always had been a monarchy, flirted with republicanism. From 1649 to 1660, England actuallyΒ wasΒ a republic, at least in theory: King Charles I had been executed, and the country became a βProtectorateβ under Oliver Cromwell. Not...
The ideas that formed the Constitution: Machiavelli
A span of over a thousand years separates our last writer, the Roman historian Tacitus (who died about 120 C.E.), from NiccolΓ² Machiavelli. You might wonder: Was there no one during that time period worth covering? And, why Machiavelli? Wasnβt he an exponent of the...