Last Best Hope of Earth

Tag: Tyranny

  • Constitution Sunday: “An Old State Soldier” I

    Virginia Independent Chronicle (Richmond)

    January 16, 1788

    A former soldier sought to inform his fellow Virginians about the merits of the draft Constitution, and his fellow Virginians would be incorrect if they assumed that he was merely a soldier and would know nothing about the wisdom needed for setting up a new government. He described himself as a “fellow-citizen whose life has once been devoted to your service, and knows no other interest now than what is common to you all, solicits your attention for a new few moments on the new plan of government submitted to your consideration.” He was all too aware that some of the more intellectual arguments had already been made but also that his perspective would serve “to contradict some general opinions which may have grown out of circumstances too dangerous to our reputations to remain unanswered.”

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  • Constitution Sunday: Isaac Backus on Religion and the State, Slavery, and Nobility

    Massachusetts Ratifying Convention

    February 4, 1788

    Some governmental systems are engines of tyranny. They may be dressed up as virtuous systems, ones that account for all members of society, but the consequences flowing from the system always speak louder than the rhetoric its leaders spout. At the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention, in February 1788, Isaac Backus arose and spoke in favor of the draft Constitution as it accounted for and did not contain many features of a system that leads to tyranny.

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  • Constitution Sunday: Reply to Mason’s “Objections”: “Civis Rusticus”

    Reply to Mason’s “Objections”: “Civis Rusticus”

    Virginia Independent Chronicle (Richmond), January 30, 1788

    Following are excerpts of an article written in response to George Mason’s article listing the objections to the Constitution:

    “5th. Had the convention left the executive power indivisible, I am free to own it would have been better, than giving the senate a share in it (more…)

  • Polk’s Expansion of Presidential Power

    james_knox_polk_by_george_peter_alexander_healy_detail_1846_-_dsc03261
    James Polk. By: George Peter Alexander Healy. (Detail).

    The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was the culmination of the Mexican-American War and “embodied the objectives for which [President James] Polk had gone to war.” Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: Transformation of America, 1815-1848, 808.

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  • Constitution Sunday: “Publius,” The Federalist I [Alexander Hamilton]

    “Publius,” The Federalist I [Alexander Hamilton]

    Independent Journal (New York), October 27, 1787

    Following are excerpts from the Federalist I, written by Alexander Hamilton:

    “The subject speaks its own importance; comprehending in its consequences, nothing less than the existence of the union, (more…)

  • Constitution Sunday: The Weaknesses of Brutus Exposed: “A Citizen of Philadelphia” [Pelatiah Webster]

    The Weaknesses of Brutus Exposed: “A Citizen of Philadelphia” [Pelatiah Webster]

    Philadelphia, November 8, 1787

    Following is a series of excerpts from Pelatiah Webster’s article published in Philadelphia:

    “This government must have a supreme power, superior to and able to controul each and all of its parts. ‘Tis essential to all governments, that such a power (more…)

  • Constitution Sunday: “A Citizen of America” [Noah Webster]

    “A Citizen of America” [Noah Webster]

    Philadelphia, October 17, 1787

    Following are excerpts from Noah Webster’s writing:

    “Another idea that naturally presents itself to our minds, on a slight consideration of the subject, is, that in a perfect government, all the members of a society should be (more…)

  • Constitution Sunday: “An Old Whig” [George Bryan et al.] I

    “An Old Whig” [George Bryan et al.] I

    Independent Gazetteer (Philadelphia), October 12, 1787

    Following is a series of excerpts from George Bryan’s article in the Independent Gazetteer:

    “And after the constitution is once ratified, it must remain fixed until two thirds of both the houses of Congress shall deem it necessary to propose amendments; (more…)

  • Constitution Sunday: Reply to Wilson’s Speech: “Cincinnatus” [Arthur Lee] I

    Reply to Wilson’s Speech: “Cincinnatus” [Arthur Lee] I

    New York Journal, November 1, 1787

    Following are excerpts from the article, published in response to James Wilson’s speech:

    “Your first attempt is to apologize for so very obvious a defect as—the omission of a declaration of rights. This apology consists in a very ingenious discovery; that in the state constitutions, whatever is not reserved is given; but in the congressional constitution, whatever is not given, is reserved. (more…)

  • Constitution Sunday: Reply to Wilson’s Speech: “Centinel” [Samuel Bryan] II

    Reply to Wilson’s Speech: “Centinel” [Samuel Bryan] II

    Freeman’s Journal (Philadelphia), October 24, 1787

    Following are excerpts from Samuel Bryan’s article, published in response to James Wilson’s speech:

    “Friends, countrymen, and fellow-citizens, As long as the liberty of the press (more…)