Constitution
This Week in History: The Philadelphia Convention Begins
When delegates gathered in Philadelphia 230 years ago this week to consider changes to the structure of the general government, many prominent delegates brought plans to create a much stronger central authority, shifting power away from the states. However the...
Constitution 101: To “Provide for the Common Defense”
Many people use the general welfare clause as their “the federal government can do anything and everything clause.” Others have turned the phrase “provide for the common defense” into a similar justification for federal overreach. Progressives tend to invoke the...
Due Process Is Vital to Freedom
“No person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” — Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution The clash in American history between liberty and safety is as old as the republic itself. As far back as...
The Ninth and Tenth Amendments: Keystones of Liberty
The founding generation created a political system that carefully divided powers and that was designed to ensure the general government remained limited in its scope and power. That system has all but vanished, but two oft-ignored and misunderstood provisions in the...