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.” That’s 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,...
Forgotten Anti-Federalist Warnings: The Pennsylvania Dissent
One of the most influential Anti-Federalist essays against the Constitution didn’t come from a single writer. It came from a group of delegates at the Pennsylvania ratifying convention. Their warnings – about centralization of power, corruption, and more –...