“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.”
Two years before the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson penned a long and detailed list of grievances regarding British acts going back more than a century. He not only referred to them as a “nullity” but pointed out that “we declare them void.” Jefferson’s...
Signed on Sept 3, 1783 – the Treaty of Paris was intended to end the war for independence. But the war didn’t officially end on that date with the signatures of Franklin, John Adams and John Jay. The treaty, made with 13 free, sovereign, and independent...
While names like Madison, Hamilton, and Washington often dominate discussions about the Constitution, many other Founders played vital roles in shaping it. In this episode, we’re uncovering the contributions of ten often-overlooked figures who significantly...
A lot of people believe that before the 17th amendment, state legislatures had the power to recall and replace senators in congress. But that’s nothing more than a myth. Records from the ratification debates show that this power never existed under the Constitution....
When government-run schools teach that the American Revolution was mostly about “taxation without representation,” the underlying message is clear: today, you have representatives, so if you don’t like what they do, just get new ones. But this ignores a deeper...
Think the American Revolution was just about taxes and tea parties? Think again. The real battle was over a much deeper issue: the colonists’ unwavering belief in their right to local, self-government vs a British claim of unlimited power. James Madison called...