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Alexander Hamilton

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Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall; painting by Henry Inman, 1832.

Hail to the Chief

“John Marshall...exhibited a subservience to the executive branch that continues to haunt us.”

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Title page of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense."
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Anonymous Criticism Helped Make America Great

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Unrevolutionary Bastardy

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The Founders feared democracy and didn't think too highly of "the people".

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Congress Handed to the President the Power to Level Tariffs

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Drawing showing Nixon and Clinton in a criminal line-up

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Impeachment, American Style

It’s our democracy’s ultimate weapon for self-defense. But does intense political opposition justify its use?

Presidential Revisionism

The New York Times published the flimsiest defense of Trump’s apparent emoluments violations yet.

The American Revolution Revisited

A nation divided, even at birth.

The Woman Whose Words Inflamed the American Revolution

Mercy Otis Warren used her wit to agitate for independence.

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Expansionism, and sending the military into others' lands, is a critical component of American republicanism, and a factor in independence itself.
A Continental soldier in the Revolutionary War holding a tattered American flag and standing on chains.

We Could Have Been Canada

Was the American Revolution such a good idea?

The Debate Over Executive Orders Began With Teddy Roosevelt's Mad Passion for Conservation

Teddy used nearly 10 times as many executive orders as his predecessor. The repercussions are still felt today.

Divided We Fall

We need a radical solution to avert the disintegration of our political system.

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The fate of Aaron Burr's daughter remains a topic of contention.

Not Our Independence Day

The Founding Fathers were more interested in limiting democracy than securing and expanding it.