Constitutional Genealogy: Benjamin Franklin’s First Articles of Confederation
Most people recognize that the Constitution evolved out of the Articles of Confederation. But the Articles were also part of a long evolution in political thought and constitutionalism that started long before the colonies’ quest for independence. An important...
Constitutional Genealogy: The New England Confederation of 1643
The foundational ideas underlying the Constitution took root long before the founders drafted the document. In fact, they began to take root in the earliest days of American colonialization. The Constitution was the culmination of a radical shift in political thought....
The Constitution’s rules for relations with Indian tribes
A previous installment in this two-part series described the Supreme Court’s current interest in the law of Indian tribal sovereignty—that is, the law governing how federal, state, and tribal governments relate to each other. One result is the court’s 2020 decision...