Constitution
Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural: Timeless Blueprint for the Constitution
Peace, freedom, the 10th Amendment, and the elimination of taxes: These are just a few of the principles Thomas Jefferson outlined in his first inaugural address. They weren’t mere policy suggestions, they represent timeless and revolutionary declarations against the...
Luther Martin’s Warning: The Constitution as a Threat to State Sovereignty
Luther Martin, a prominent Anti-Federalist, warned that the proposed Constitution would destroy state sovereignty by concentrating power in a centralized national government. One of the few opponents of the constitution to attend as a delegate to the Philadelphia...
Federalism and the 10th Amendment: Tench Coxe Explains Delegated and Reserved Powers
“Independent of the control or interference of the federal government.” That’s how Tench Coxe described the vast majority of power under the Constitution – reserved to the states and completely off-limits to federal authority. Perhaps better than any...
Oath to the Constitution: What Adherence Truly Means
“If their duty, their honor, and their oaths will not bind them, let us not put into their hands our liberty and all our other great interests.” These are the powerful words of Gouverneur Morris, the “Penman of the Constitution” and author of...