Did the Constitution Fail the People? Or Did the People Fail the Constitution?
Did the Constitution fail? A lot of people think it did. This popular quote by Lysander Spooner sums up the thoughts of many. “But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain – that it has either authorized such a government as we...
Understanding the Constitution: How the Document was Composed
The Constitution’s framers were familiar with a long line of Anglo-American documentary landmarks, of which the most famous was Magna Carta and the most recent were state constitutions and the Articles of Confederation. But in drafting the U.S. Constitution, the...
Understanding the Constitution: the style of the preamble
The Constitution begins with an introduction called the “preamble,” a word from the Latin praeambulus, meaning “walking before.” The preamble to a legal instrument identifies the parties, states crucial facts, and/or explains the purpose of the document. The “Whereas”...