Historically what you say is certainly correct. The US federal gov't was created by a group of what were at the time independent nations. Those nations had much in common, a checkered history of cooperation, and recognized the need for a larger entity for their defense and to regulate matters between them. They actually already such a body- -the Continental Congress and the Articles of Confederation- -but they had too little power to be effective. They wished a more effective national gov't.
However, being already independent, they also wished to keep all but the powers they must cede to the national gov't- -such as regulation of interstate commerce and waging war- -to themselves. Consequently they intended a strictly limited national government. This shows up in the wording of the early amendments to the Constitution.
Take the 1st Amendment as an example:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Notice that the limitations being placed here are on the FEDERAL CONGRESS- -not on the states. All the states already allowed free speech and press and assembly, but several had established churches and would have been in violation of that amendment had it been held at the time to apply to state gov'ts.
Later the USSC ruled that the limitations of the Bill of Rights also applied to state gov'ts, the bill of rights being useless were that not the case, but by that time all states had disestablished their churches.
Here's an interesting piece of US history:
yale.edu
And be it farther enacted, That if any person shall write, print, utter or publish, or
shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered or published, or shall knowingly and
willingly assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering or publishing any false, scandalous and
malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the
Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame the
said government, or either house of the said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them, or
either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or either or any of them,
the hatred of the good people of the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States,
or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United
States, or any act of the President of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of
the powers in him vested by the constitution of the United States, or to resist, oppose, or
defeat any such law or act, or to aid, encourage or abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation
against United States, their people or government, then such person, being thereof convicted
before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not
exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years.
That's the US Congress gutting the 1st Amendment in 1798. It did have this provision in it:
SEC. 4. That this act shall continue to be in force until March 3, 1801, and no longer...
That law was used by the Washington administration:
The last of the laws, the Sedition Act, passed on July 14 declared that any treasonable activity, including the publication of "any false, scandalous and malicious writing," was a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment. By virtue of this legislation twenty-five men, most of them editors of Republican newspapers, were arrested and their newspapers forced to shut down.
One of the men arrested was Benjamin Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache, editor of the Philadelphia Democrat-Republican Aurora. Charged with libeling President Adams, Bache's arrest erupted in a public outcry against all of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Many Americans questioned the constitutionality of these laws. Indeed, public opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts was so great that they were in part responsible for the election of Thomas Jefferson, a Republican, to the presidency in 1800. Once in office, Jefferson pardoned all those convicted under the Sedition Act, while Congress restored all fines paid with interest.
When Jefferson took office in 1801, he refused to enforce the Sedition Act.
Those who are so quick to ignore the limitations imposed by the Constitution would do well to ponder the above, I believe.
But it wasn't over. There was the Sedition Act of 1918 to come:
azimuth.harcourtcollege.com
The Sedition Act was passed by Congress in 1918. The law made it a crime to
criticize by speech or writing the government or Constitution. During the Red
Scare (1919-20) A. Mitchell Palmer, the attorney general and his special
assistant, John Edgar Hoover, used the Sedition Act and the Espionage Act
(1917) to launch a campaign against radicals and left-wing organizations. Under
these two laws 1500 people were arrested for disloyalty. Most were eventually
released but Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman, Mollie Steimer and 245 other
people, were deported to Russia.
spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
To the best of my knowledge, the Sedition Act of 1918 still stands. In fact, liberal (THERE'S THAT "L" WORD!) hero Bobby Kennedy was fond of it.
Bobby Kennedy, hardly a student of American constitutional history, wanted to expand the 1918 Sedition Act to cover Americans anywhere in the world.
villagevoice.com
John Lindsay stood up to Bobby Kennedy again when, in 1963, the
out-of-control attorney general decided to expand the 1918 Sedition Act,
which, under President Woodrow Wilson, had terminated the First
Amendment during the First World War. |
