Thomas Jefferson famously adapted key passages of John Locke’s Second Treatise in his draft Declaration of Independence. An 18th century gentleman could hardly regard himself as learned without the ability… Read more »
Free Government is that happy condition wherein government respects and protects the unalienable, Natural Rights of the nation, and makes no law without its consent. Under this simple guidance, government… Read more »
A common concern among Article V opponents is fear that a convention of the states to propose constitutional amendments will result in an oppressive constitution. Instead, all we need to… Read more »
The first objection from Anti-Federalists was that the extensive territory of 1780s America could not support republican government. Citing a widely respected Charles De Montesquieu, republican government requires the consent… Read more »
I don’t know how I managed for so long to put off reading Allan Bloom’s 1986 The Closing of the American Mind. I’m only through the Preface and Introduction, and… Read more »
In late 2012, I found myself interested in the 17th Amendment a few months before its hundred year anniversary in April 2013. Having earlier read James Madison’s often sketchy notes… Read more »
There is a parallel conservatism shared by the framing era Anti-Federalists and today’s Article V opponents. Conservatism in this sense is the tendency to hold on to what is known… Read more »
From yesterday’s post regarding thoroughly corrupted republics, Machiavelli* found that even when a few wise laws are passed, corrupt institutions in society and government will turn the law away from… Read more »
Can free government be reestablished in a corrupt republic? Is there enough virtue remaining in America 2016 for renewal? For insight, I can’t help but return to a favorite read,… Read more »
Should I be charged with a felony, I know that as an American I am presumed innocent. This presumption of innocence means I will remain in possession of my God-given… Read more »