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Articles on US Founding Fathers

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Reconstructed slave cabins at James Madison’s Montpelier in Virginia. Stephen P. Hanna

Modern-day struggle at James Madison’s plantation Montpelier to include the descendants’ voices of the enslaved

Once owned by James Madison, the Montpelier plantation remains a model for presenting a full depiction of the life of the former president as well as the lives of those he enslaved.
A transcript from the Constitutional Convention records the official report creating the Electoral College. U.S. National Archives

Who invented the Electoral College?

Three approaches were debated during the Constitutional Convention – election by Congress, selection by state legislatures and a popular election, though that was restricted to white landowning men.
The Supreme Court will soon add another originalist to its ranks if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed. Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images

What is originalism? Debunking the myths

The judicial theory has been a major talking point during the past three Supreme Court nominations. But what does it actually mean?
In a 1775 cartoon, a British cartoonist mocks how wealthy elites were compelled by ordinary Americans to respect trade and price regulations. Philip Dawe/Wikimedia Commons

Fight for economic equality is as old as America itself

Fears of great wealth and the need for economic equality go back to the country’s origins.
A congressional staffer opens the boxes containing the Electoral College ballots in January 2017. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Electoral College benefits whiter states, study shows

With a Supreme Court ruling rejecting one of the founders’ two reasons for creating the Electoral College, only one reason remains: racism.
Were muskets in 1777 better regulated than assault rifles in 2017? Jana Shea/Shutterstock.com

Five types of gun laws the Founding Fathers loved

A leading historian of constitutional thought says the contemporary Second Amendment debate is founded on serious misunderstandings.

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