We investigate the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the current US Constitution versus the Articles of Confederation and examine the opinions of both the public and the new American aristocracy revealing the public perception of the new US Constitution. ...

The founding generation certainly understood that the colonists of an empire could and would be treated as tax slaves or cannon fodder. This was the history of the Old World, and they had fought a revolution to escape such a fate. But the “nationalists,” led by men like Hamilton and centered in New York and New England, also understood that life could be quite grand for those who managed and ruled over an empire. That’s why his party—the Federalists—fought so hard and long for a much more powerful, consolidated, monopolistic government and for mercantilist economic policies. It should be made clear early on that the Federalists won many of the essential debates and the expanding American Empire is a direct result of the Federalists contributions to the US Constitution. As an example, it’s said that the framers believed in a living constitution, because they made explicit provisions for amending the Constitution of 1787. Yet most countries don’t straitjacket their operations with a single rigid document that can never be changed except through an onerous, time-consuming and ill-conceived amendment process that’s almost never succe...