“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
“If the Govt. is to be lasting, it must be founded in the confidence & affections of the people …” -George Mason, at the Constitutional Convention, Aug. 13, 1787. George Mason of Virginia helped construct the Constitution. He then opposed ratifying the very...
Gouverneur Morris was a “chick magnet.” He was tall, handsome, witty, and rich. Even scalding damage to his right arm, loss of his lower leg in a traffic accident, and reliance on a wooden prosthesis for walking didn’t impair his success with women. Part of his...
Historian Forrest McDonald itemized some of George Washington’s constitutional contributions in American National Biography Online: “His role in working out the details of the Constitution was minimal, but Washington was important to the success of the convention...
It’s easy, if not entirely fair, to explain Alexander Hamilton’s relentless search for fame and power as the outcome of a life begun under very unfavorable conditions. He was born on Jan. 11, 1757, an illegitimate child on the Caribbean island of Nevis, then a...
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: John Rutledge owned slaves. Moreover, during the Constitutional Convention, he informed his fellow delegates that the three southernmost states would not join the Union if the Constitution immediately abolished the slave...