Commentary
The battle between the power of government and individual liberty has been the enduring struggle throughout American history. When Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence in 1776, he had in mind three principles for these United States of America: liberty, equality, and government by consent. These formed what we might call the “American Idea,” which was enshrined in the new written state constitutions adopted throughout the late 1770s and 1780s. During the fierce ratification battle over the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton penned his own explanation as to how this American Idea was enshrined in the newly proposed federal Constitution in The Federalist.