James Wilson

There’s Much More than Just the Federalist Papers

by Michael Boldin | Aug 7, 2023 | Audio/Video, Constitution, James Wilson, John Dickinson, Path to Liberty, State Ratifying Conventions, Tench Coxe

If you want to understand the Constitution – its original, legal meaning – don’t rely exclusively, or even primarily on the Federalist Papers. You’ll want to read other federalists like James Wilson, Tench Coxe and John Dickinson, plus the leading...

Today in History: Pennsylvania Becomes 2nd State to Ratify the Constitution

by Dave Benner | Dec 12, 2020 | Constitution, James Wilson, State Ratifying Conventions

Today in history, on Dec. 12, 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the United States Constitution. The event was the culmination of a bitter fight in Philadelphia between delegates both for and against ratification in the state. James Wilson, who had...

History Ignored: James Wilson’s Speech on the Constitution

by Michael Boldin | Oct 5, 2020 | Audio/Video, Constitutional Convention, James Wilson, Path to Liberty, State Ratifying Conventions

On Oct. 6, 1787, just over a week after the Confederation Congress voted to send the proposed Constitution to the 13 states for consideration, future Supreme Court justice James Wilson gave one the most prominent and important speeches in support of ratification. Yet,...

How Things Have Changed: Supreme Court Edition

by Michael Boldin | Sep 28, 2020 | Audio/Video, James Iredell, James Wilson, John Jay, Judiciary, Oliver Ellsworth, Path to Liberty

12 quotes from four Supreme Court Justices nominated by Pres. George Washington – on property rights, federal power, resistance and more – show just how much things have changed. And not for the better. Path to Liberty: September 28, 2020...

Today in History: James Wilson’s State House Yard Speech

by Dave Benner | Oct 6, 2019 | Founding Principles, History, James Wilson

Today in 1787, James Wilson made his famous “State House Yard Speech” in support of the Constitution in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania was the first true test for the ratification struggle, and Wilson was asked to explain what the Constitution did and respond to some of...

The 10th Amendment

“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.”

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