CT>The constitution here is meant to limit government. In closing I would
I thought the constitution was meant to define the government.  It was
written after it became quite clear that the Articles of Confederation
(the original governmental paper) was not working, because they placed
too severe a limitation on what government could do.  As a matter of
fact, it is the amendments to the constitution much more than the
original constitution that limits the power of government.  The original
constitution, as I'm sure you recall, didn't even provide for freedom of
speech or freedom of religion.  Both of those freedoms were granted by
amendments.
And the only people who could vote under the original constitution were
free white men over the age of 21 who owned property.  Indians were
not even to be counted in the censuses.   Slaves were only partly human,
according to the original constitution, since each slave could only be
counted as a fraction of a person.
But I'm sure you knew all that already, and that you have read the
entire constitution several times, which is why you are speaking about
it so authoritatively.
By the way, I *have* read the constitution several times.  However, I am
still *not* a constitutional lawyer, and I am *not* an authority on it.
                  Sondra
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