Constitutional Intent Perverted
In 1823 John Taylor wrote a book titled “New Views of the Constitution of the United States.” A strange title for a book written so close to the ratification of the US Constitution, I had originally thought -- however, after reading the book the title is very appropriate and it should be mandatory reading for anyone with a desire to learn the true nature of our government. The secret journals of the Constitutional Convention were not published until 1821 and it was these journals that spurred John Taylor into writing this book:
Had the journal of the convention which framed the constitution of the United States, though obscure and incomplete, been published immediately after its ratification, it would have furnished lights towards a true construction, sufficiently clear to have prevented several trespasses upon its principles, and tendencies towards its subversion. Perhaps it may not be yet too late to lay before the publick the important evidence it furnishes.
It was the opinion of John Taylor that the same men who promoted and argued for a consolidated national government during the convention were the same men who, after the ratification, were attempting to interpret and “construct” meanings from the document that were never intended.
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Lochner v. New York (1905) is one of the most roundly criticized cases in the twentieth century. This is an unfortunate effect that progressivism has had on our academic and legal systems in the United States, because Lochner is actually one of the strongest stances the Supreme Court has ever taken in the defense of individual liberty.
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