September marks the 239th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, which described the limits of federal power and a government representing the will of the people. We can still return to the Constitution’s original meaning and curb the growth of the administrative state.
An appreciation of the Constitution’s role in fashioning the American republic must begin with the American Revolution. More precisely, the impetus for the Revolution. The literature of the period yields one overarching theme: self-government.
In the wake of the Seven Years’ War, Great Britain found itself struggling under a massive national debt. Not surprisingly, Britain’s new king, George III, and his ministers looked to the North American colonies to make greater financial contributions and to submit to more imperial oversight. The ministry reasoned that the colonists benefited more than the mother country by territorial gains and the defeat of French and Indian forces in North America.
What the ministry could not calculate was the long-term effect of Sir Robert Walpole’s policy of salutary neglect. As prime minister from 1721 to 1742, Walpole implemented a policy in which Great Britain laxly enforced regulations governing the colonies and encouraged the colonies to be self-sufficient. Walpole believed that so long as the colonies were at peace and governed by local laws ensuring domestic tranquility, the colonials and British merchants would enjoy prosperity. Of course, before Walpole, the British government had encouraged the creation of local representative assemblies. The assemblies were an integral part of colonial government, with the lower houses functioning much like the House of Commons.
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