Ratification Debates
Patrick Henry Demands a Bill of Rights
On June 7, 1788, Patrick Henry delivered one of many long speeches at the Virginia Ratifying Convention, warning about giving up too much power, and demanding the inclusion of a Bill of Rights in the proposed U.S. Constitution before its adoption. The convention ran...
Despite What They Tell You: The Constitution Never Discriminated Against Women
One way some writers try to discredit the Constitution is to assert that the document’s original meaning discriminated against women. Thus, a 2011 Time Magazine cover story claimed that “The [Constitution’s] framers gave us the idea that . . . women were not allowed...
Brutus No. 1: Antifederalist Warning on Consolidation
If you’ve been following our work here at the TAC, you’ll often see articles, videos, quotes, posts – about the dangers of centralization of power. In fact, it might be one of the most common themes – both here and from the Founding Generation....
New evidence on the “Power To . . . regulate . . . Commerce”
The Constitution empowers Congress “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.” Article I, §8, cl. 3. During the New Deal of the 1930s, liberal constitutional writers began to argue that “Commerce” as the...