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John Adams

A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America


G G G G G

Introduction Notes on the texts Vol. I Vol. II Vol. III

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John Adams: Defence of the Constitutions, 1787

DEFENCE OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES


Volume I A Da Capo Press Reprint Edition This Da Capo Press edition of A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America is an unabridged republication of the first edition published in London in 1787-1788. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 69-11328 SBN 306-71176-1 Published by Da Capo Press A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation 227 West 17th Street New York, N.Y. 10011 All Rights Reserved Manufactured in the United States of America A

DEFENCE
OF THE

CONSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
OF THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.


BY JOHN ADAMS, LL. D.
AND A MEMBER OT THE ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES AT BOSTON.

All nature's difference keeps all nature's peace. Pope. LONDON: MINTED FOR C. DILLY, IN THE POULTRY.
M.DCC.LXXXVII.

CONTENTS.
[Preface] LETTER [Subject] I. Preliminary Observations II. DEMOCRATICAL REPUBLICS. Page 3 5

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III. IV.

St. Marino Biscay The Grisons The United Provinces of the Low Countries Switzerland Appenzel Underwald Glaris Zug Uri Switz

8 16 21 22 22 23 26 28 31 32 34 35 39 42 45 47 49 50 51 52 56 58 69 70 72 74 91 97

V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X.

ARISTOCRATICAL REPUBLICS. XI. Berne XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. Fribourg Soleure Lucerne Zurich Schaffhause Mulhouse Bienne St. Gall Geneva Lucca Genoa Venice

The United Provinces of the Low Countries MONARCHICAL REPUBLICS. XX. England XXI. XXII. XXIII. Poland Poland Recapitulation

PHILOSOPHERS. XXIV. Dr. Swift

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XXV. XXVI.

Dr. Franklin Dr. Price

105 121 141 148

MIXED GOVERNMENTS. XXVII. Machiavel XXVIII. Sidney

Montesquieu 153 ANCIENT REPUBLICS, AND OPINIONS OF PHILOSOPHERS. XXIX. Harrington 158 XXX. XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. Polybius Polybius Dionysius Halicarnassensis Valerius Plato Sir Thomas Smith 169 177 184 188 207 210 215 225 232 237 242 249 260 286 295 305 308 311

ANCIENT DEMOCRATICAL REPUBLICS. XXXV. Carthage ANCIENT ARISTOCRATICAL REPUBLICS. XXXVI. Rome ANCIENT MONARCHICAL REPUBLICS. XXXVII. Tacitus XXXVIII. Homer Phacia XXXIX. Homer Ithaca Homer ANCIENT ARISTOCRATICAL REPUBLICS. XL. Lacedmon ANCIENT DEMOCRATICAL REPUBLICS. XLI. Athens XLII. XLIII. XLIV. XLV. XLVI. Antalcidas Achaia Crete Corinth Argos

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XLVII. XLVIII.

Iphitus Thebes

315 318 322 327 331 334 362 365 372 383

ANCIENT ARISTOCRATICAL REPUBLICS. XLIX. Crotona Pythagoras ANCIENT DEMOCRATICAL REPUBLICS. L. Sybaris Charondas LI. LII. Locris Zaleucus Rome

CONCLUSION. LIII. Congress LIV. LV. Locke, Milton, and Hume Conclusion Postscript

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Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics

Liberty Library
of

Constitutional Classics
The following is a list of the classic books and other works on constitutional government, which we either include in our collection, or plan to add. Legend: If more than one file format available, click on the button to get the indicated file format: HTML | Text | Zipped WP | Adobe PDF | RTF | MS Word | Image 1. 2. Library Guides Various analyses of key ideas and how they were advanced by some of the works in this collection. Code of Hammurabi (~1780 BCE) Early Mesopotamian legal code laid basis for later Hebraic and European law.

3. Ancient Greek and Latin Library Selected works on ancient history, customs and laws. 4. Institutes, Justinian (533) The main part of the Corpus Juris Civilis the other parts being the Digest, Code, and Novels, which codified Roman Law. In Latin and English. 5. 6. cases. 7. 8. 9. Assize of Arms (1181) Defined rights and duties of people and militias. Magna Carta (1215) Established the principle that no one, not even the king or a lawmaker, is above the law. Constitutions of Clarendon (1164) Established rights of laymen and the church in England. Assize of Clarendon (1166) Defined rights and duties of courts and people in criminal

Confirmatio Cartarum (1297) United Magna Carta to the common law by declaring that the Magna Carta could be pled in court. 10. On the Laws and Customs of England, Henry de Bracton (1268) First codification of English common law. 11. Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas (1265-1273) Discusses foundations of law and justice. 12. 13. 14. The Declaration of Arbroath (1320) Scotland's declaration of independence from England. The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli (1513) Practical advice on governance and statecraft, with thoughts on the kinds of problems any government must be able to solve to endure. Utopia, Thomas More (1516) Satirical analysis of shortcomings of his society and a vision of what could be.

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15.

Discourses on Livy, Niccolo Machiavelli (1517 tr. Henry Neville 1675) Argues for the ideal form of government being a republic based on popular consent, defended by militia. 16. Britton, (~1530) Abridged, updated, more readable, and more widely used codification based on Bracton, originally in the French of the English court, reflecting changes in the law, including changes in juries. 17. Relectiones, Franciscus de Victoria (lect. 1532, first pub. 1557) Includes De Indis and De iure belli, arguing for humane treatment of native Americans and of enemies in war. Provided the basis for the law of nations doctrine. 18. In Defense of the Indians, Bartolom de Las Casas (~1548) Argues for respecting the rights of Native Americans. 19. Six Books of the Commonwealth, Jean Bodin (~1590 tr. Richard Knolles 1606, tr. & abr. M.J. Tooley 1955) Originated modern ideas of sovereignty, the state, and citizenship. 20. Politica, Johannes Althusius (1614) First presented a comprehensive theory of federal republicanism based on a covenantal model of human society. 21. The Mayflower Compact (1620) One of the first expressions of the social contract in written form. 22. On Laws of War and Peace, Hugo Grotius (1625) Sets out principles of natural law and the laws of nations. 23. The New Atlantis, Francis Bacon (1627) Utopian vision of support for scientific research as a foundation of good government. 24. The First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England, Sir Edward Coke (1628) Further codification of English common law. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. The Petition of Right (1628) The objectives of the reform movement that led to the English Civil War and the deposing of Charles I. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639) The first written constitution. Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641) Early written expression of the liberties asserted by the colonists in reaction to the oppressions of European governments. A Plea for Religious Liberty, Roger Williams (1644) Early expression of the principle of religious tolerance by the founder of the colony of Rhode Island. On Liberty, John Winthrop (1645) Discusses liberties demanded by the colonists. Selected Works of the Levellers (1645-9) Militia leaders who sought legal reforms later sought by the American Revolution and embodied in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Includes An Agreement of the Free People of England, an early attempt at a republican constitution. The Citizen, Thomas Hobbes (1641-47) Discussion of the natural law foundations of government. Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes (1651) Laid basis for social contract theory, providing branching point for the theories of constitutionalism and fascism.

31. 32.

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33. Selected Political Works of John Milton Includes Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649) and Defense of the People of England (1651). 34. The Commonwealth of Oceana, James Harrington (1656) Outline of a plan for republican government.

35. Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos, "Junius Brutus" (1660) In 1683 it was ordered to be burned. 36. Theologico-Political Treatise, Baruch de Spinoza (1670) Discussed the ultimate source of legitimate political power. 37. On the Duty of Man and Citizen According to Natural Law, Samuel Pufendorf (1673, 1682 tr. Frank Gardner Moore) Based law and right on natural law. 38. The Law of Nature and of Nations, Samuel Pufendorf (1674, tr. Basil Kennett 1703) Derived justice and the law of nations from natural law. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. Bacon's Declaration in the Name of the People (1676) The manifesto of a rebellion in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon. Political Treatise, Baruch de Spinoza (1677) Constitutional considerations of various forms of government, including ideas that later influenced the Founders. Habeas Corpus Act (1679) English Parliament established key right. Plato Redivivus, Henry Neville (1681) Argued for limits on the powers of government. Frame of Government of Pennsylvania, William Penn (1682) Early model for written constitutions. English Bill of Rights (1689) Early model for recognizing natural rights in writing. Much of its language appeared later in the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. Second Treatise on Government, John Locke (1689) Principal proponent of the social contract theory which forms the basis for modern constitutional republican government. A Letter Concerning Toleration, John Locke (1689) Classic statement of the case for toleration of those holding different views. A Discourse of Government with Relation to Militias, Andrew Fletcher (1698) Analyzes importance of the militia to legitimate government, law enforcement, and national defense. Discourses Concerning Government, Algernon Sidney (1698) Built principles of popular government from foundation of natural law and the social contract.

Constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy A model for a federal system of government for several Native American nations, it influenced Franklin's proposed Albany Plan of Union. 50. Abridgement of the Project for Perpetual Peace, Abb Charles de Saint-Pierre (1713) Plan for peace in Europe. 51. 52. Selected Works of Walter Moyle, (~1696-1721, pub. 1796) Includes Constitution of the Roman State, a commentary on English constitutional issues from a Whig perspective. Selections from Cato's Letters, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon (1720-23) English newspaper articles advocating Whig principles, which much influenced the American colonists.

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53.

Questions of Public Law, Cornelius van Bynkershoek (1737) Develops the law of nations and constitutional (public) law beyond Grotius and Pufendorf. 54. An account of Denmark, as it was in the year 1692, Robert Molesworth (5th ed. 1745) Commentary on Denmark that is really a commentary on constituitonal issues in England. 55. The Principles of Natural and Politic Law, J. Burlamaqui (1748, tr. Thomas Nugent 1752) Commentary on the natural law ideas of Grotius, Hobbes, Puffendorf, Barbeyrac, Locke, Clarke, and Hutchinson. The Spirit of Laws, Charles de Montesquieu, (1748, tr. Thomas Nugent 1752) Laid the foundations for the theory of republican government, particularly the concepts of the separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judicial, a federal republic, representatives elected from political subdivisions, a bicameral legislature, and a system of checks and balances. Selected Essays of David Hume, (1754) Includes "Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth", which inspired the federal design of the U.S. Constitution. Albany Plan of Union, Benjamin Franklin (1754) An early model for union that laid the foundation for what would eventually become the federal union. In Defense of a Plan for Colonial Union, Benjamin Franklin (1754) Arguments in favor of the Albany Plan of Union, which was rejected as too democratic. Selected Political Works of Jean Jacques Rousseau, (1754-1772) Includes Social Contract and A Discourse on Political Economy.

56.

57. 58. 59. 60. 61.

The Law of Nations, Emmerich de Vattel (1758) Based constitutional and civil law on the law of nations. 62. Selected Works of Voltaire, (~1764) Includes The Philosophy of History and A Treatise on Toleration. 63. 64. The Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress (1765) Developed the concept that people could not legitimately be taxed except by their elected representatives. The Declaratory Act (1766) The English Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but couldn't leave well enough alone, and adopted this statement of parliamentary supremacy over the British colonies. On Crimes and Punishments, Cesare Beccaria (1764) Set out rights of the accused in criminal proceedings. Argues for crime prevention over punishment, and against the death penalty and torture. An Essay on the History of Civil Society, Adam Ferguson (1767) The evolution of societies and their forms of government.

65.

66. 67.

Camden, Mansfield and the English Constitution The rivalry between two British jurists helped provoke the American Revolution and shaped the evolution of the jury system in both Britain and the United States. 68. Letters of Junius, Unknown (1767-72) Letters from an English Whig and ally of Lord Camden against the efforts of Lord Mansfield to restrict the role of juries, and on other constitutional topics.
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69. Selected Political Works of Joseph Priestley Includes First Principles of Government (1768) and Present State of Liberty (1769). 70. The English Constitution, John Louis De Lolme (1771) Discusses separation of powers, the jury system, and habeas corpus. 71. 72. The Rights of the Colonists, Samuel Adams (1772) The Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting.

Declaration of Colonial Rights, First Continental Congress (1774) Developed the principles being violated by British rule. 73. Political Disquisitions, James Burgh (1775) Constitutional thinking of an English Whig. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. Declaration of Taking Up Arms, Second Continental Congress (1775) Last step before declaring independence. On Civil Liberty, Passive Obedience, and Nonresistance, Jonathan Boucher (1775) Urged obedience to established authority, representing statist view of constitutional principles. Selected Writings of Thomas Paine Includes Common Sense (1776) and Rights of Man (1792). The Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) Further developed principles being violated by British rule, adopted as part of Virginia Constitution. Contains accepted definition of militia. U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776) Classic statement of what constitutes legitimate government and under what conditions men were justified in resorting to armed revolution to change it. Selected Political Works of Richard Price Includes Civil Liberty (1776) and Importance of the American Revolution (1784).

79. 80.

Articles of Confederation First attempt to form a common government for the newly independent states. 81. Civil Government, Josiah Tucker (1781) Critique of English constitution and commentary on Locke. 82. The Principles of Morals and Legislation, Jeremy Bentham (1781) Introduced utilitarianism, to provide a better theoretical foundation for penal statutory law than natural law theory. 83. Metaphysics of Morals, Immanual Kant (1785) Set out the Categorical Imperative doctrine of right based on natural law 1. 2. 84. Introduction to the ..., tr. W. Hastie (1785) Fundamental Principles of the ..., tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott (1785)

The Northwest Ordinance (1787) Model for administration of common territory not yet a part of any state. 85. Constitutional Ratification Debates 1. Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, James Madison. These are the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia, an essential guide to

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interpreting the intent of the Framers. 2. 3. 4. 5. Constitution for the United States (1787) Annotated and linked to other documents in this collection. The Federalist Papers, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay (1787-88) Arguments for ratification of the proposed Constitution. Anti-Federalist Papers (1787-89) Various essays criticizing the proposed Constitution and urging changes. The Debates in the Several Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Jonathan Elliot (1836) A collection of documents, including proceedings of the ratifying state conventions. Documentary History of the Constitution of the United States of America, U.S. State Department (1894, 1900) A collection of documents, including some not in Elliot's Debates or the other works listed.

6.

7.

Documentary History of the Bill of Rights From the English Bill of Rights through the proposed amendments of the state ratifying conventions to the drafts debated in Congress before adopting the final version. 8. Selected Essays from the Founding Period Lectures, newspaper articles, and sermons which reflect the understanding of constitutional issues during the founding period. 86. A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, John Adams (1787-89) Argued for a broad interpretation of national powers. Comprehensive collection of quotes from political philosophers and historians that influenced the Founders. Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (Marquis de Lafayette, Thomas Jefferson, 1789) Manifesto of the French Revolution, expressing its ideals.

87. 88.

Selected Works of Edmund Burke (1788-92) Commentary on the American and French Revolutions and the political issues they raised. 89. The Declaration of the Rights of Women, Olympe de Gouge (1790) Statement of an early feminist. 90. 91. A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) Set forth the arguments for women's rights. Mother of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of Frankenstein.

Perpetual Peace, Immanual Kant (1795) Further discussion of natural right and the plan for peace. 92. Federalist-Republican Debates 1792-1800 1. 2. 3. Against the Constitutionality of the Bank of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. For the Constitutionality of the Bank of the United States, Alexander Hamilton. The Virginia Report, J.W. Randolph, ed. (1850) Documents and commentary arising out of the controversies attending the Alien and Sedition Acts, including the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 and 1799 and the Virginia Resolution of 1798, which set forth the "Doctrine of '98" concerning constitutional interpretation, and led to the "Revolution of

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1800", the dominance of the Jeffersonians, and the demise of the Federalist Party. 4. 93. 94. 95. First Inaugural Address, Thomas Jefferson (1801) Represents the triumph of the strict constructionists following the excesses represented by the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Selected Works of Thomas Jefferson Includes complete Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Ellery Bergh, ed., 19 vol. (1905). Selected Works of James Madison Selected writings bearing on constitutional interpretation. Tucker's Blackstone, St. George Tucker (1803) The Commentaries on the Laws of England by William Blackstone (1769), with additional commentaries by Tucker adapting the common law to the needs of the U.S. Constitution. Dallas, Cranch and Wheaton Three successive collections of U.S. Supreme Court decisions covering 1789-1816. An Inquiry into the Principles and Policy of the Government of the United States, John Taylor (1814) A response to John Adams' A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America. The Olive Branch: or, Faults on Both Sides, Federal and Democratic..., Matthew Carey (1816) Treatise on the constitutional issues dividing the federalists and democrats. Construction Contrued and Constitutions Vindicated, John Taylor (1820) A response to some of the misconstructions of the Constitution by the Marshall Court. The Elements of the Art of Packing, As Applied to Special Juries, Particularly in Cases of Libel Law, Jeremy Bentham (written 1809, published 1821) Critical treatise on abuses of the English jury system and ways to reform it, which provides a historical background to practices that continue to this day. The first publisher in 1817 of excerpts from this work was prosecuted twice for doing so, and the second three times, but in each attempt, juries acquitted them. Commentaries on American Law, James Kent (1826) Kent's Commentaries succeeded Tucker's Blackstone by reformulating the relevant content of Blackstone's Commentaries and integrating Common Law with Constitutional Law up to that time.

96. 97.

98. 99. 100.

101.

102.

A View of the Constitution, William Rawle (1829) Early commentary on the Constitution and how it should be interpreted. Made point that the Bill of Rights also applied to the states, something that would later be denied, then partially reassserted by the 14th Amendment and the doctrine of (selective) incorporation. 103. An Historical Essay on the Magna Charta, Richard Thomson (1829) Definitive commentary on the fundamental documents, including the Magna Charta, the Charters of Liberties and Confirmations of Henry III and Edward I, and the Original Charter of the Forests, and their relation to the common law. 104. Hayne-Webster Debate (1830) Debates between Daniel Webster, representing a broader construction of federal powers, and Robert Y. Hayne, representing strict construction and the views of John C. Calhoun. 105. Selected Works of John C. Calhoun, (1831) Includes "A Disquisition on Government" and "A Discourse on the Constitution and Government of the United States". Developed the doctrines of concurrent majority, interposition, nullification and state secession, to correct what he
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perceived as a defect in the design of the Constitution that permits a persistent majority to dominate all three branches of government and legislate against the interests of a minority to the point where they would consider their rights violated. 106. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, Joseph Story (1833) Authoritative commentaries by an early Supreme Court justice who helped shape interpretation of the Constitution for the next century. 107. On Democracy in America, Alexis de Toqueville (1835, 1840) Discusses the society that makes republican government work and how it is shaped by that form of government. 108. A Brief Enquiry into the True Nature and Character of our Federal Government, ..., Abel Parker Upshur (1840, 1868) A review of Joseph Story's Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, arguing against some of Story's expansive interpretations of national powers. Man the Reformer, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841). Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau (1849) Discusses duty of individuals to resist government excesses. The Law, Frederick Bastiat (1850) Classic treatment of one of the main challenges to the survival of democratic government. Bouvier Law Dictionary, John Bouvier (1856). Also available as two self-extracting executables: Part 1 and Part 2. On Liberty, John Stuart Mill (1860) Develops a theory of civil liberties and discusses what rights should be recognized and protected.

109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114.

Representative Government, John Stuart Mill (1861) Discusses various representation methods and the advantages and difficulties with each. 115. Commentaries on the Criminal Law, 6th Ed. Vol. 1, Joel P. Bishop (1865) Discussion of the limits on the constitutional authority to impose criminal penalites in various jurisdictions. 116. Manual of the Constitution of the United States of America, T. Farrar (1867) Provides a view of the state of constitutional interpretation as of that time. 117. The Constitution of the United States: Defined & Carefully Annotated, George W. Paschal (1868) Interpretative citations for each clause and term in the Constitution. 118. An Introduction to the Constitutional Law of the United States, John N. Pomeroy (1868) Commentary on the state of constitutional jurisprudence during the Reconstruction Period, with guidance on interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment. 119. A Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations Which Rest Upon the Legislative Powers of The States of the American Union, Thomas M. Cooley (1868, 1883) Commentary reflecting constitutional thought at the time. 120. 121. The Subjection of Women, John Stuart Mill (1869) Argues for full equality of women. Documents and Commentary on Slavery, Secession, the Confederate States of America and the Civil War. 122. History of Trial by Jury, William Forsyth. (1875) Tells story of how it evolved, as seen by a legal scholar who missed the point that juries were established because judges and prosecutors
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123.

124. 125. 126. 127. 128.

cannot be trusted. History of the Formation of the Constitution of the United States of America, George Bancroft (1883) Presents much background information on the people and events that shaped the Constitution. The General Principles of Constitutional Law in the United States of America, Thomas M. Cooley (1891) Commentary reflecting constitutional thought at the time. The Evolution of the Constitution of the United States, Sydney George Fisher (1897). Traces each of the clauses of the U.S. Constitution back to previous colonial government documents. The History of English Law, Pollock and Maitland (1898) Definitive study of the foundations of the Anglo-American legal system. The Grand Jury, George J. Edwards (1906) Classic treatise on the grand jury, unequalled to this day.

The Moral Equivalent of War, William James (1906) Seeks solution to problem of how to sustain political unity and civic virtue without war or a credible threat. 129. Select Essays in Anglo-American Legal History, Freund, Mikell, & Wigmore, ed. (1907) Classic essays on legal foundations and theory. 130. Federal Usurpation, Franklin Pierce (1908) Historical and constitutional analysis of how corruption, zealotry, and incompetence combined to violate the Constitution. 131. Black's Law Dictionary. 2nd Edition, 1910 Standard reference for legal terminology. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. Robert's Rules of Order Revised, Henry Robert (1915) Essential manual for parliamentarians of deliberative assemblies. Constitutional Conventions, Roger Sherman Hoar (1917) Treatise on the way a body politic manifests its sovereignty. Recent Changes in American Constitutional Theory, John W. Burgess (1923) Constitutional scholar surveys departures from constitutional compliance from 1898 through 1920. The Revival of Natural Law Concepts, Charles Grove Haines (1930) Review of natural law theory as the foundation of constitutional law. Undermining the Constitution, Thomas James Norton (1950) Constitutional scholar examines departures from constitutional compliance arising from New Deal. Jurisdiction over Federal Areas within the States Report of the Interdepartmental Committee for the Study of Jurisdiction over Federal Areas within the States (1956). Freedom's Frontier Atlantic Union Now, Clarence K. Streit (1962) Classic treatise on international conflict and federalism. Also see a Review by Jon Roland. Militia Treatises, James B. Whisker Standard references on the subject. Includes The Militia (1992) and The American Colonial Militia (1997). Selected Works on Tyranny To understand the principles of constitutional republican government, one must understand the principles of its opposite. Selected U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Includes commentaries on the rulings and the

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opinions. 142. Selected U.S. Appellate Court Decisions Includes commentaries on the rulings and the opinions. 143. Constitutional Commentary Collection Books, anthologies, and essays. 144. Legal Briefs Collection Organized by subject. 145. Law Review Article Collection Organized by subject. 146. 147. U.S. State Constitutions and Web Sites National Constitutions The supreme laws of many of the most important countries, for comparative analysis.

For contributions to and suggestions for additional items to be added to this collection, contact editor Jon Roland, liberty.librarian@constitution.org We plan to make this collection available on CD-ROM when it is more complete. Home | Constitution Society

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June 14, 1996 Nov. 26, 1996

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