Founding Fathers
Forgotten Anti-Federalist Warnings on the Constitution from Elbridge Gerry
Elbridge Gerry warned that โthe existence of their liberties will soon be terminatedโ under the Constitution without significant amendments. As one of the most active delegates at the Philadelphia Convention, Gerry ultimately refused to sign the final document....
Oath vs Censorship: Jefferson on the Duty to Stop Unconstitutional Laws
An act against the Constitution is no law at all – itโs void. This principle, rooted in the American Revolution and the debates over the Constitutionโs ratification, was central to President Thomas Jeffersonโs response to the Sedition Act of 1798. In this...
Conspiracy: Luther Martin’s Anti-Federalist Warnings about Centralization
Luther Martin, the Anti-Federalist firebrand, predicted that the Constitution would lead to a national system of consolidated power that could never secure liberty. He argued this was an intentional conspiracy – a deliberate plan at the Philadelphia Convention...
10th Amendment Explained: Tench Coxe on State vs Federal Power
“Independent of the control or interference of the federal government.” Thatโs how Tench Coxe described the vast majority of power under the Constitution – reserved to the states and completely off-limits to the federal government. In this episode,...