“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.”
Patrick Henry told us that “government is no more than a choice among evils.” Thomas Paine held the same view. In Common Sense, he wrote, “Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its...
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...
Resist. That was Lysander Spooner’s strategy to stop unconstitutional acts that was very much in line with James Madison and other prominent founders. Spooner was a prominent 19th-century abolitionist. He is well-known in libertarian circles for saying the...
The United States Postal Service – formerly the Post Office — is an American institution rooted in the Constitution. To the framers, the idea that the federal government would be in the thankless business of carrying mail from city to city defied their...
Some people want to blame the intrusive, overreaching federal government we have today on the Constitution. Many cite a quote from 19th-century anarchist Lysander Spooner to drive home their point: “But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this...