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SCI LIBRARY

The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson

By Subject


CONSTITUTION / UNITED STATES / ORIGINAL INTENT



On every question of construction (of the Constitution) let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.

to William Johnson, 12 June 1823