Reply To: US Constitution

#14739
tatefegley
Member

Forgive me if this question was already answered elsewhere (or something I should have readily gleaned from the lectures), but I am wondering how libertarian the original intentions of the Framers of the US Constitution were. Upon hearing how some constitutionalists speak today, one would think that the only reason that the federal government is now so large is that the Supreme Court has misinterpreted certain clauses and everything would be swell if the federal government could only go back to a strict constructionist reading, as the Framers intended. Others, however, are much more cynical about the Framers intentions; asserting that Federalists like Alexander Hamilton wanted a strong central government to be snuck in through methods similar to those which have actually been used. Which story is closer to the truth?