Denied

  It isn't what is allowed that creates a society, it is what is denied. The founding fathers, the authors of liberty knew that. That is why the constitution was written the way it was. It took about 116 days to come up with the first draft. A lot of discussion about what was going to be allowed, but far more discussion about what would be denied. Originally there were six main areas denied to congress. Remember Congress is "we the people" and that is who was being denied. The first thing was regulating the slave trade, that was ended in 1808. It became illegal to import slaves from Africa beginning in that year. The second thing was the imposition of direct taxes, that was revised in 1913 with the 16th amendment. That was in response to a supreme court ruling. Prior to that tariffs were the primary means of revenue for the government. 

 Today there are four remaining powers denied to Congress, to the people. 1.The writ of Habeas corpus. That concerns unlawful detention of a person before being charged with a crime. 2. The Bill of Attainder. The ability to impose punishment without due process of law. 3. Export taxes. Now controlled by three agencies. 4. Port preference clause. That prevents the government from favoring one states ports over another. They are the things denied, everything else is open for arbitration. That is where all the this is what it says, but not what it means, comes into the picture. All those things we classify in one of two ways, civil or criminal. Yes indeed, a binary system, your actions will be judged one way or the other. Civil disputes are between individuals whereas criminal disputes involve society as a whole. 

  It's no coincidence that the things denied are far less than the things allowed. Even the founding fathers had their own best interests in mind. We, as a species, don't like to deny ourselves anything, although we have no problem denying others. The founding fathers left religion out of the equation for that very reason. Religions tend to delineate behaviors that are not allowed. Religions place restrictions upon us. We call it belief, faith, sacrifice or praise. We are promised a reward. Still, John Adams pointed out a simple fact, our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people, it is totally unfit for any other. He was eluding to self denial. The government wasn't going to deny you the free exercise of your religion or your lack of one either. 

  I started out saying it isn't what is allowed that creates a society, it is what is denied. That denial would ideally come from the governed. That is what the founding fathers believed and what they wrote about. That was central to the entire constitutional convention when drafting that document. Look at what was denied. Slavery was denied as it was in contradiction to what the founding fathers believed regarding all men being created equal. A compromise was necessary however, as many in that convention held slaves of their own and the economic impact would be severe. A date of 1808 was chosen. If you use 1776 as the date it wouldn't happen for another 32 years. It didn't end the holding of slaves, just importing more from Africa. Then it came to direct taxes. It was agreed that the government could not impose direct taxes on the people. The reason is obvious enough, especially if you have been having to pay a tax to the King, on top of tariffs and tolls. The other four concern the treatment of people in regard to law and commerce regarding the individual states. 

 It is those denials that created America. That is what formed the Republic. A government of the people, by the people and for the people just as Lincoln proclaimed. He spoke those famous words at Gettysburg in support of the Union cause, in support of of the words, "all men are created equal" and "a house divided among itself can not stand." The later being a biblical reference. Mathew 12:25 says, "every kingdom against itself will be laid waste" It is what Adams was talking about when he spoke of a moral and religious people. He was talking about self denial. The dream was for a nation self-governed. That dream has to begin with each of us. It begins with denial, not with acceptance. When we deny ourselves those things we know to be wrong, there is no need for governance. That's the dream.