The concept of the due process of law is guaranteed in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It ensures that neither the federal nor, following incorporation by the Supreme Court, state governments shall deprive anyone “of life, liberty or property without the due process of law.” Due process is not a single, …
Shortly after the destruction of the Twin Towers at New York’s World Trade Center in September 2001, the University of Wisconsin–Madison Library chose to commemorate the tragedy by publishing a pamphlet containing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Kenneth Frazier, the director of the library, and a colleague, visited my …
A year after the shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, heralding the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, French Foreign Minister Vergennes submitted a report to King Louis XVI and his council on the escalating conflict between England and its North American colonies. Charles Gravier, the Comte de Vergennes (1719–1787), had been a career …
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson occupy the top tier in the American pantheon of Revolutionary Era giants. They knew each other for fifty years—from 1775 when they first met during the Second Continental Congress until they died, perhaps miraculously, on the 4th of July 1826—the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. …
With the adoption of the Constitution, Americans faced the arduous task of implementing a new government. One thing was certain—George Washington had to be the country’s first President. Preferring to remain retired at Mount Vernon, Washington agonized over re-entering public service. Between 15 December 1788 and 10 January 1789 the states elected presidential electors who …
The declaration and achievement of independence and the establishment of state and federal constitutions were pivotal events not only in American history but also “in the course of human events.” No one better assisted and chronicled these momentous events than Thomas Paine, a recent immigrant from England who arrived in Philadelphia on 30 November 1774. …
Antifederalists throughout the country voiced a wide range of objections to the Constitution, some times even disagreeing among themselves on these criticisms. Yet they shared four core criticisms: (1) the omission of a bill of rights; (2) that the creation of a consolidated national government endangered the sovereignty of the states; (3) the weakness and …
On 7 June 1776 Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee presented a resolution to the Second Continental Congress that called for the American colonies’ independence. In response, Congress formed three committees: to draft a declaration of independence, to draft articles of Union, and to seek foreign assistance. More than a year passed before Congress forwarded its …
The British finally evacuated New York City on 25 November 1783. General George Washington and New York Governor George Clinton rode into the city together, marking the end of nearly seven years of British occupation. Residents, returning refugees, and the army filled the streets in celebration. When it came time for Washington to depart, he …
When the Constitutional Convention considered the office of the President of the United States, all of the delegates naturally presumed that George Washington would be the only logical choice to fill the position. Because of Washington’s expected election and because of his service as commander-in-chief during the war (especially his retirement from the army at …