Insights into the Constitution from English Social History
If you want to understand the Constitution, you should know something of the social context that produced it. Very useful for this purpose are the chapters on the 17th and 18th century in George Macaulay Trevelyan’s book, English Social History: A Survey of Six...
The Day the Philadelphia Convention Narrowly Avoided Permanent Adjournment
“Something must be done, or we shall disappoint not only America, but the whole world…. We must make concessions on both sides. Without these, the constitutions of the several states would never have been formed.” -Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, July 2, 1787 W....
Tench Coxe’s Federalist Defense: Economic and Political Consequences of Disunion
In a number of his lesser-known federalist essays, Tench Coxe pivoted from his usual focus on the division of powers between state and federal governments to tackle various Anti-Federalist arguments. He highlighted the futility of satisfying disparate objections and...