Pierce Butler was an ardent and outspoken nationalist at the Constitutional Convention. and he introduced the Fugitive Slave Clause to protect slavery. Pierce Butler was born in 1744 in County Carlow, ...

Judges use their reasoning skills to decide what particular laws mean when they rule on cases. Different judges sometimes use different methods to interpret the Constitution, meaning that judges do ...

Lyman Hall was a doctor who signed the Declaration of Independence. The British burned his community in Georgia during the war. He later became Georgia's governor. Lyman Hall, the son of John and Mary ...

In Stinson, a unanimous Court gave great deference to the commentary in sentencing decisions, holding that “the Guidelines ...

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable ...

William Blackstone (1723-80) was the author of A Discourse on the Study of Law (1758), Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-69), and other works. These works were for the most part based on ...

When crafting the Constitution, one of the central concerns of the Founding generation was how best to control government power. With the new Constitution, the Framers looked to strike an important ...

Josiah Bartlett represented New Hampshire at the Second Continental Congress, and he cast the first “aye” vote to approve separation from Britain. Josiah Bartlett was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, ...

Emmerich de Vattel (1714-67) was the author of The Law of Nations (1758). Swiss-born Vattel’s most famous work consisted of the application of the law of nature to nations. He understood the law of ...

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the ...

This activity is part of Module 6: Separation of Powers and Federalism from the Constitution 101 Curriculum. View the document on the National Constitution Center’s Website. Early in 1776, John Adams ...

Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer favored a strong and permanent union of the states. At the Convention of 1787, Jenifer was content with the plan for a new government that emerged from the debates. Daniel ...