Framers Argument Analysis

The Constitution of the United States of America is perhaps the most powerful and influential document in the world. It is the supreme law of our nation, uniquely designed by the Framers to derive its sovereign authority from the consent of the people. It is the sole source of all governmental powers, and it also provides important and necessary limitations on the government that ensures the protection of the fundamental rights of United States citizens. The Founders drafted this Constitution with the chief aim of creating a government armed with sufficient authority to act on a national level while simultaneously upholding and preserving our rights and liberties. The Drafters had the vision to see past the times of the convention

He believes that Meese’s method cannot really be objective, for “it is arrogant to pretend that from our vantage we can gauge accurately the intent of the Framers on application of principle to specific, contemporary questions” (page 385). He prefers to interpret the Constitution with consideration to our current standards and values, not those of a bygone era. This, for him, ensures that the text will endure by keeping it both relevant and adaptive as society changes. Every new generation is so radically different from the previous that each must decide how the principles laid out in our Constitution should be applied to meet our specific needs and problems. In order to remain faithful to the content of the Constitution throughout these changing times, though, we must remember that “the Constitution was meant as a plan of government and not as an embodiment of fundamental substantive values,” and that “an approach to interpreting the text must account for the existence of these substantive value choices, and must accept the ambiguity inherent in the effort to apply them to modern circumstances” (pages 386, 387). Brennan, therefore, would challenge Meese’s question. He would say that we should ask what do “freedom” and “dignity” mean for us today, and how should we apply them while upholding the principles and rights secured by the