The articles on this page are selected based on the following criteria: Each demonstrates scholarly rigor. Each is devoted, at least in part, to examination of the original understanding or original meaning of the Constitution or some portion of it. Each relies significantly on a wide range of sources arising before or during the Founding Era (roughly defined as ending with the effective date of the Bill of Rights: December 15, 1791). Thus, articles are excluded if they rely only on few Founding Era sources, or on other commentators, post-Founding developments, or perceptions of current desirability.

Viewpoints expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the website manager or any other person or institution.

Constitutional Values

• The Founders' Hermeneutic: The Real Original Understanding of Original Intent, 68 Ohio St. L.J. 1239 (2007)
• The Constitution and the Public Trust, 52 Buff. L. Rev. 1077 (2004)
• A Reminder: The Constitutional Values of Sympathy and Independence, 91 Ky. L. J. 353 (2003)

• The Constitutional Contributions of John Dickinson, 108 Penn. State L. Rev. 415 (2003)

• The General Welfare Clause and the Public Trust: An Essay in Original Understanding, 52 U. Kan. L. Rev. 1 (2003)
• Judicial Review of Special Interest Spending: The General Welfare Clause and the Fiduciary Law of the Founders, 11 Tex. Rev. L. & Pol. 239 (2007)

• The Original Meaning of the Indian Commerce Clause, 85 Denv. U. L. Rev. 201 (2007)
• The Legal Meaning of "Commerce" In the Commerce Clause, 80 St. John's L. Rev. 789 (2006)
• Tempering the Commerce Power, 68 Mont. L. Rev. 95 (2007)

• Federal Land Retention and the Constitution's Property Clause: The Original Understanding, 76 U. Colo. L. Rev. 327 (2005)

• The Agency Law Origins of the Necessary and Proper Clause, 55 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 243 (2004)
• Federal Land Retention and the Constitution's Property Clause: The Original Understanding, 76 U. Colo. L. Rev. 327 (2005)
• Tempering the Commerce Power, 68 Mont. L. Rev. 95 (2007)

• Statutory Retroactivity: The Founders' View, 39 Idaho L. Rev. 489 (2003)

• Federal Land Retention and the Constitution's Property Clause: The Original Understanding, 76 U. Colo. L. Rev. 327 (2005)

Religious Test Clause (VI-3)

• Paul Horwitz, Religious Tests in the Mirror: The Constitutional Law and Constitutional Etiquette of Religion in Judicial Nominations, 15 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 75 (2006)

First Amendment—Establishment Clause

• The Original Meaning of the Establishment Clause, 14 Wm. & Mary Bill Rights J. 73 (2005)
• Patrick M. Garry, Religious Freedom Deserves More than Neutrality, 57 Fla. L. Rev. 1 (2005)

• The Original Meaning of the Establishment Clause, 14 Wm. & Mary Bill Rights J. 73 (2005)
• Patrick M. Garry, Religious Freedom Deserves More than Neutrality, 57 Fla. L. Rev. 1 (2005)

• The Original Meaning of the Establishment Clause, 14 Wm. & Mary Bill Rights J. 73 (2005)