The Founding Record

The Founding Record

• The Declaration of Independence

  The argument for legitimacy, and the conditions under which it is forfeited. Excerpt of the opening; the full text including all grievances is at the archive…

• The Preamble

  Three words that decide where authority comes from.

• All Legislative Powers Herein Granted

  Two words carry the whole limit: herein granted.

• Congress Shall Have Power To Coin Money

  The money power sits in Congress, listed beside weights and measures.

• Congress Shall Have Power To Declare War

  The decision to go to war belongs to Congress. That was deliberate.

• No Army Appropriation For Longer Than Two Years

  Every army expires in two years unless Congress votes it back.

• Necessary And Proper

  Called the sweeping clause by its opponents. The argument never ended.

• The Privilege Of The Writ Of Habeas Corpus

  The jailer must state a lawful reason. Suspension requires rebellion or invasion.

• No Bill Of Attainder Or Ex Post Facto Law

  Congress cannot convict you by statute, and cannot criminalize the past.

• A Regular Statement Of All Public Money

  No spending without a law, and a published account of every dollar.

• The Executive Power Shall Be Vested

  One officer, one fixed term, one person answerable.

• Impeachment And Removal

  A fixed term is not immunity for the length of it.

• The Judicial Power Shall Be Vested

  Tenure and salary protection so judgment cannot be bought or starved.

• Treason Against The United States

  The only crime the Constitution defines, and it defines it narrowly on purpose.

• The Amendment Process

  Two routes to change the text. Neither one is interpretation.

• The Supremacy Clause

  Supreme, but only the laws made in pursuance of the Constitution.

• No Religious Test Shall Ever Be Required

  An oath to the Constitution. Never a creed.

• The First Amendment

  Five protections in one sentence: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

• The Second Amendment

  An armed citizenry as the stated condition of a free state.

• The Third Amendment

  No soldiers in your home. The least litigated amendment and the clearest.

• The Fourth Amendment

  Warrants must name the place and the thing. General warrants are the abuse this forbids.

• The Fifth Amendment

  Grand jury, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, due process, and just compensation.

• The Sixth Amendment

  Speedy, public, local, and with a lawyer. The trial rights in one clause.

• The Seventh Amendment

  The civil jury, and the rule that a court cannot simply re-decide what a jury found.