The Con That Became the Constitution

By Edward L DFelio

The Con that Became the Constitution is a critical analysis of eight specific areas of the U.S. Constitution that are currently impacting the Republic. The book analyzes Constitutional concerns and issues from recorded word starting with the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 to the present day from a provocative, yet enlightening perspective.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edward Louis DFelio
• Release date: Mar 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9780578373126

Edward L DFelio

Edward D'Felio was born and raised in Michigan. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy having served onboard the U.S.S. Puget Sound where he was a member of the Multi-National Peace Keeping Force in Beirut, Lebanon and with NATO's Allied Forces Southern Europe. His education and passions include economics, history, philosophy, and political science. The Con That Became the Constitution is Edward's first book.

Book preview

1

The Shot Heard Round the World

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Great Britain unofficially relaxed enforcement of regulations, particularly trade laws imposed on the American colonies.  Left unchecked, the colonies began to prosper by trading with non-British entities.  The wealth obtained by trade permitted the colonies to not only purchase goods manufactured in Britain, but also supply Britain with raw materials.  Unfortunately for Britain, there were unintended consequences as the colonies became more economically and politically independent.  In 1760, King George tightened enforcement, which put a strain on the relationship.

On the night of April 18, 1775, many British troops departed Boston and headed toward Concord, Massachusetts, to seize weapons and ammunition stockpiled there by the colonists.  The next morning, April 19, 1775, British troops arrived in Lexington, Massachusetts where they were confronted by approximately seventy colonial militia on the Common.  It is uncertain which side initiated the fight, but someone suddenly fired a shot and a skirmish ensued.  The brief encounter ended with eight dead American colonists and one wounded British soldier.  Afterwards, the British continued their march towards Concord.

In Concord, the British burned what little munitions they found.  Believing the town would be reduced to ashes, the militiamen hurried to the North Bridge, which was defended by British troops.  The British opened fire first but withdrew when the colonists returned fire.  The Revolutionary War had begun.

After the initial battles with relatively low casualties, the colonists proved that they could stand up to one of the most powerful nations in the world.  Even as their confidence grew, few colonists desired complete independence from Great Britain. In January 1776, hope of reconciliation changed upon receipt of the news that King George III vituperated the rebellious colonies and ordered the expansion of the royal army and navy.  For the period covering March through May, eight State conventions voted in favor of independence.  On June 7, the Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft a statement of the colonies’ intentions.  On July 4, 1776, the United States of America was officially born with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

2

Founding Principles, Ideals, and Spirit

From its inception, no other document has had a greater impact on individual rights of humankind and, the independence and sovereignty of nations, than the Declaration of Independence.  Today, more than half of the world’s countries have incorporated its ideals either in word or deed.

In the United States, the Declaration of Independence is the most important document in its history.  It was the nation’s proclamation to the world which asserted the right of a citizenry to choose and establish their own government.  The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence expresses the principles on which the United States was founded.  They are:

"All men are created equal and They are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  The government’s purpose in this unique and improbable experiment was to secure these rights."

The principle, ideals, and spirt of the Declaration of Independence evolved during the period of the 17th and 18th centuries, known as the Enlightenment.  The Declaration’s author, Thomas Jefferson, was greatly influenced by the English philosopher, John Locke.  According to Locke, the principle of equality is essential to the success or failure of his concept of government.  Without equality, Locke contends that mankind would not be willing to relinquish their (unalienable) rights to join society.  A social contract is thus formed between mankind and the State.  Mankind mutually consents to be governed and to be treated equally.  The State assures that mankind is free and is to be treated as an "equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection," all the while maintaining a safe and secure nation.  In the Second Treatise of Government, Locke describes the state of nature as one:

". . . of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another; there being nothing more evident, than that creature of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection."

The ideals of the State as defined in the Declaration of Independence are the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  In the Second Treatise of Government, Locke proclaims that the preservation of mankind (Life) is the most basic law of human nature:

". . . no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions… (and) when his own preservation comes not in competition, ought he, as much as he can, to preserve the rest of mankind, and may not, unless it be to do justice on an offender, take away, or impair the life, or what tends to the preservation of the life, the liberty, health, limb, or goods of another."

Locke also believed that individuals should be free (Liberty) to make their own choices about how to conduct their own lives so long as they did not interfere with the liberty of others.  He also believed that liberty should be far-reaching:

"To understand political power right, and derive it from its original, we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man."

Locke first references the phrase pursuit of happiness in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.  Although influenced by the Greek philosophers, such as Aristotle and Epicurus,