Free Republic

Robert Yates, a delegate to the 1787 convention from New York, left on July 10, 1787. He became an Antifederalist leader. Under the nome de plume "Sydney" he wrote in the New York Daily Patriotic Register, June 13 and 14, 1788. TO THE CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. Although a variety of objections to the proposed new constitution for the government of the United States have been laid before the public by men of the best abilities, I am led to believe that representing it in a point of view which has escaped their observation may be of...

Let us look to the first article of the proposed new constitution, which treats of the legislative powers of Congress; and to the eighth section, which pretends to define those powers. We find here that the Congress in its legislative capacity, shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, and excises; to borrow money; to regulate commerce; to fix the rule for naturalization and the laws of bankruptcy; to coin money; to punish counterfeiters; to establish post offices and post roads; to secure copy rights to authors; to constitute tribunals; to define and punish piracies; to declare war;...

I intend to spend this weekend reading these more diligently ... from argument to argument.

The birth of this nation was not without its labor pains. Right from the start there was dissension among the Founding Fathers - especially when it came to drafting a new constitution. The “federalists,” stressing the inadequacy of the Articles of Confederation, called for a stronger national government. The “antifederalists,” on the other hand, believed that this centralization of power could only lead to tyranny. States’ rights advocate Richard Henry Lee saw the inherent problems of what the federalists were proposing: “To say that a bad government must be established for fear of anarchy is really saying that we should...

The Bush Administration has rewarded the South for its loyalty. Having successfully continued the Executive usurpation of Congressional authority to negotiate trade contracts, thanks to NAFTA and "Fast-Track", as well as Congressional authority to declare war, Bush now enjoys unchallenged power. His latest exercise in imperial Executive authority came last week when he awarded the Socialist Republic of Vietnamincreases in its textile export quotas to the US from $49 million to $1.5 billion. This is good news for the Vietnamese, but more grim news for Southern textile workers. The Southern textile industry has closed more than 150 mills and slashed...

"...Memorandum: Get, if I can, The Federalist without buying it. It is not worth it. But, being a lost book, Izard, or some one else, will give it to me. It certainly was instrumental in procuring the adoption of the Constitution. This is merely a point of curiosity and amusement to see how wide of its explanations and conjectures the stream of business has taken its course. ...unfortunately, intrigue and cabal take place of fair inquiry. Here an observation forces itself upon me: that, in general, the further any measure is carried from the people, the less their interests are...