E. Nigma: “The Constitution of 1789 was something of a long simmering reaction to the Revolutionary War and the failure of the first Federal Articles of Confederation.”

I disagree with this contention. The Articles did not fail. The basic problem the Americans faced in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War was the problem with paying down war debt and with the money supply. The Articles of Confederation were sound in that they provided only for a weak central government under the direct control of the States (one vote per state, by the way). The Convention in 1787 was only supposed to tinker with the Articles to deal with the debt and money supply problems, but Hamilton and Madison were able to take this meeting in a different direction. The result was the foundation for an eventually powerful central state.

Everything that American conservatives hate about our Leviathan State is rooted in the 1787 Constitution. Go read the original Articles–they are easily found on the net.

I recommend two recent books to understand these issues better: Unruly Americans by Woody Holton and Liberty’s Blueprint by Michael Meyerson. Both authors support the Constitution, but describe the problems and opposing viewpoints of this period pretty well.