The Founders' Vision of Limited Government — And How Far We've Strayed
- Ethan Justice
- Nov 11
- 3 min read
When our Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft the Constitution, they brought with them the hard-earned lessons of tyranny, overreach, and the dangers of unchecked power. Fresh from the fires of the American Revolution, they understood with uncommon clarity that liberty could not survive unless government was restrained. That understanding formed the cornerstone of our Constitution — a carefully balanced framework designed to secure individual rights by limiting the reach of the federal government.
James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution," wrote in Federalist No. 45:"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined." He went on to clarify that those powers would be limited primarily to external matters like war, peace, and foreign trade. The rest — the overwhelming majority of governance — was to remain with the states and the people.
This was no accident. The Founders deeply feared centralized authority. They had lived under the heavy hand of British rule, where a distant government taxed and regulated without representation. That experience forged their belief that the federal government must be a servant of the people, not their master.
The Tenth Amendment, ratified in 1791, sealed this philosophy into law:"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Yet, look around today. Can anyone honestly say that the federal government operates within "few and defined" powers? From sprawling bureaucracies to endless regulations, from trillions in debt to federal agencies dictating education, healthcare, and even how gas stoves are manufactured — the federal Leviathan today would be unrecognizable to the men who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to create a nation of free men and women.
The erosion began gradually, but steadily. Progressives in the early 20th century rejected the constitutional limitations of the Founders, embracing a vision of government as a force for social engineering. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society dramatically expanded Washington’s power under the guise of compassion — often bypassing constitutional restraints with activist courts and bloated administrative agencies.
The result? A federal government that consumes nearly a quarter of the nation's GDP, dictates policy across every aspect of American life, and leaves little room for state sovereignty or individual liberty.
This isn’t what the Founders intended. And it isn’t what our Constitution allows.
If we are to restore the republic, we must restore the understanding of what the Constitution truly means. It begins with education — especially among our youth. That’s why the work of the 917 Society is so critical. By ensuring that every 8th-grade student receives a copy of the Constitution and understands its meaning, we are planting the seeds of a national revival. We are reminding the next generation that liberty is not inherited — it must be taught, defended, and cherished.
Ronald Reagan once warned: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." That’s not just a slogan. It’s a wake-up call. If we do not teach the next generation about the dangers of centralized government and the beauty of our Constitution, we will lose both.
Let us return to the vision of our Founders — a vision of limited government, empowered citizens, and a Constitution that restrains the powerful rather than emboldens them. The path forward isn’t radical. It’s a return to our roots.
That’s not just patriotic. It’s revolutionary.
an History, Conservative Values, 917 Society, Government Overreach