The Ideas That Formed the Constitution, Part 19: Jean-Louis DeLolme: ‘We the People ...’

The Ideas That Formed the Constitution, Part 19: Jean-Louis DeLolme: ‘We the People ...’
A portrait of Jean-Louis Delolme from “Constitution de l'Angleterre.” (1789). Public Domain
Rob Natelson
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Commentary

Writers on the Constitution seldom mention the name of Jean-Louis DeLolme. This is unfortunate, because DeLolme’s book on the English political system significantly influenced those who participated in the constitutional debates of 1787–90. The Constitution’s opponents—the Antifederalists—relied on it. And as leading historian Gordon Wood testified, DeLolme’s book “had an extraordinary influence on Federalist thinking in the late 1780s as well.”

Rob Natelson
Rob Natelson
Author
Robert G. Natelson, a former constitutional law professor who is senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver, authored “The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant” (3rd ed., 2015). He is a contributor to The Heritage Foundation’s “Heritage Guide to the Constitution.”
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