In the practice of law and there is a rule of law that questions regarding a contract must be construed by what is said within the 4 corners of the Agreement itself. Contract law is based on this principle. What the document says, controls. If it is not there, the Agreement must then be revised or the question ignored.
Somehow that ordinary and simple concept seems to have escaped the minds of those who construe the meaning of the Constitution. The Constitution is nothing but a contract, an Agreement between the original 13 colonies to work together to “form a more perfect Union.”
As I was editing some material this week, I was once again enchanted by my description of a recent trip my wife and I took to Virginia. One of the most memorable placed we stopped was Red Hill. This was Patrick Henry’s retirement home, and where his grave is located.
However, the original Patriots didn’t play football. Football hadn’t even been invented yet. Those original Patriots played for keeps and they created a new nation. The first one ever to be of the people, by the people and for the people.
Wilford Woodruff, a religious leader in the 1800’s, reflected in his writings about the nature of the leaders of the nation in 1776 as compared to the individual characters of those of only 100 years later. It seemed to him that there was a growing gulf between the character, integrity, and inspiration of the leaders of his time, and that of the leaders in the Revolution and the promulgating of the U.S. Constitution.