Was The Constitution Written To Restrain The Federal Government?

In the past, from great men like Patrick Henry, to brilliant men, today, like Judge Andrew Napolitano, we’ve been told that The United States Constitution was written to keep The Federal Government off our backs…

Patrick Henry:
“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”

While I completely agree with Patrick Henry that, The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, the truth is, The United States Constitution created The Federal Government; therefore, if there were no U.S. Constitution, or The U.S. Constitution was never ratified, there would be no Federal Government!

While I would not presume to have more knowledge, or insights, then a great Founder like Patrick Henry, or a brilliant legal mind like Judge Napolitano, it does seem like an oxymoron to suggest that the very document that created a Government was also created to restrain the Government. That would be like saying, Dr. Frankenstein created his monster in order to restrain his monster.

In reality, it was The Federal Bill of Rights that were demanded by the anti-Federalists of the day, if they were to agree to ratify The U.S. Constitution, that were included as the first ten amendments to The Constitution, and were put there, explicitly, as additional restraints on Congress; and, by extension, the other two branches of the newly created Federal Government.

The men who wrote The U.S. Constitution, did give Congress very Limited and Defined Powers, as The Federal Government, essentially, was created to be an agent, or provider, of a Few, Defined Powers, that were perceived as necessary, by The Federalists, at the time, in order to have a strong [federal] union of states. As we have learned, overtime, those Enumerated Powers were not sufficient in limiting The Federal Government, and The Bill of Rights, while it seems like a constant struggle, actually have put some restraint onto what many of us would perceive today, as a rogue institution, who is no longer interested in having any limits on their Power, or respect for the sovereignty of these states, and We, The People.

Today, we have a Federal Government, who presumes to have the Power to create so-called, “Constitution-Free zones” inside of The United States, to where they can, randomly, without [Fourth Amendment] probable cause, or a warrant, pull over American citizens and demand to see I.D., ransack their cars, take possession of their electronic devices etc. Our Federal Government, in all of their hubris, has taken on an almost complete, Constitution-be-dammed attitude! All three branches included, have morphed into the very monstrosity that the anti-Federalists warned us about, prior to the ratification of The U.S. Constitution.

Furthermore, if our Federal Government can declare certain places Constitution-Free zones, where The Constitution is no longer in effect, then, in reality, our Federal Government should be null and void! In other words, as I alluded to above, The U.S. Constitution created The Federal Government; therefore, where there is no Constitution (in effect), there shouldn’t be a Federal Government (in effect)!

It is well past high-time that, We, The People, seriously begin reigning in this Federal Government, “lest it come to dominate our lives and interests,” and completely consumes us, our wealth, and all of our resources.

Posted, originally at, The Original Republican