Alexander Hamilton Lied- Perhaps 

In Federalist 83, Alexander Hamilton wrote that the plan of the Constitution is that the powers granted to Congress

“shall extend to certain enumerated cases. This specification of particulars evidently excludes all pretension to a general legislative authority, because an affirmative grant of special powers would be absurd as well as useless if a general authority was intended.”

This sounds so good. But it appears that he lied to us.

Perhaps Hamilton meant what he wrote at that time. But, once he became Secretary of the Treasury under President Washington, he did everything in his power to violate his own maxim. His scheme for the Bank of the United States is just one example. Where, o’ where does the Constitution provide Congress with the power to create a bank, or for that matter, any business corporation? Naturally, my question is rhetorical.

Once he tasted power, and the wealth that can come with power, Hamilton apparently turned. What role British money had in this is up for conjecture. Indeed, historian Julian Boyd penned a book many years ago (Number 7), citing Hamilton as at least being under the influence of the British Secret Service. And the British were actively working at the time to subvert American foreign and domestic policy, stir up the frontier, and strive to control American finance through such agents as the Baring Brothers bank.

Hamilton’s point in Federalist 83 is the cornerstone of what was known in Constitutional law as “strict constructionism,” the idea that one should foremost interpret any document literally and based, to the best that can be determined, on the author’s intent. Only if the internal nature of the document demands that it be taken figuratively should a literal interpretation be rejected. 

And yet Hamilton, once he tasted power, quickly turned to “loose constructionism.” Indeed, his story is that of nearly every person in history who has exercised significant power. Man turns towards evil, and evil men (and women) love power. Many of us are familiar with Lord Acton’s “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” dictum. However, I think Erick von Kuehnelt-Leddin said it best: “A good man will not be corrupted by power, and a bad man will be corrupted with no power at all.” (Leftism Revisited, 317)

Hamilton’s problem is ours today in spades. Nearly all of us having fallen for the trap of loose constructionism, especially those who exercise power over us. We daily practice it- in the way we read our laws and the way we read things like the Bible. In fact, the proliferation of laws and regulations demands that we become loose constructionists, for if we tried to abide by the 4,000 plus new regulations our federal government promulgates each year, we couldn’t even live life. In this manner, the entire culture has been corrupted.

There are many today who support such things as a Convention of the States to redress the train wreck we are about to witness.

But unless we have a revival of strict constructionism, especially regarding higher law in our Constitutions and Scripture, we will merely change cars on the same doomed train.

Russ Rodgers has several books published on Amazon.

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