Update on the US History Series
I apologize for the long delay since the last post. I went on my first-ever vacation, have had interview prep to do (job hunting is so fun, ha ha) and had some other reading to do. Some was for therapy homework, but also—one of my good friends has been trying to get me to read Atlas Shrugged for a couple of years now, and I finally am. (Yes, I will review it, at great length.)
I have in no way lost enthusiasm or energy for this project, but it is challenging. It requires a considerable investment of time and cognitive energy, and I had significant drains on those for the last couple of weeks. I am grateful that things are settling down again and I can go back to spending some dedicated time on it every morning.
Posts So Far:
Declaration of Independence (part 1, part 2)
The 1828 dictionary,
The Constitution (part 1, part 2, part 3).
The Constitution of the United States, part 4
Article 1, Sections 8-10
Article I ends with three sections that explicitly grant various powers to, and make various restrictions upon, both the Congress and the States.
In section 8, the first power granted to Congress is that of laying and collecting taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, with the careful notation that “all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States”.
The notion of all states being treated the same, which this seems to be going for, is odd in 2023, when the country is so polarized. I am also very curious if Congress has typically treated all states the same, or not. I pay most attention during election cycles, when early voting states like New Hampshire and large Electoral College prizes like California and Texas get the most attention.