{"id":2663657,"date":"2026-09-17T21:11:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T01:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/to-celebrate-constitution-day-here-are-3-little-known-constitutional-rules-so-based-that-liberals-wont-believe-theyre-real\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T21:15:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T01:15:13","slug":"to-celebrate-constitution-day-here-are-3-little-known-constitutional-rules-so-based-that-liberals-wont-believe-theyre-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/to-celebrate-constitution-day-here-are-3-little-known-constitutional-rules-so-based-that-liberals-wont-believe-theyre-real\/","title":{"rendered":"To Celebrate Constitution Day, Here Are 3 Little-Known Constitutional Rules So Based That Liberals Won&#8217;t Believe They&#8217;re Real"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fto-celebrate-constitution-day-here-are-3-little-known-constitutional-rules-so-based-that-liberals-wont-believe-theyre-real%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2663657&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article commemorates the 239th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution on september 17,1787. It highlights the enduring reverence for the Constitution among Americans while criticizing contemporary political leaders for their unworthiness. The discussion emphasizes several key provisions of the Constitution that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-partially-meets-vaccination-goal-nearly-a-month-late\/\" title=\"White House Partially Meets Vaccination Goal Nearly A Month Late\">maintain individual freedoms<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>1. **Letters of Marque and Reprisal (Article I, section 8, Clause 11):** this allows private citizens to act as privateers, legally intercepting enemy ships and commerce during wartime, which historically served as a check on empire-building and large navies that threaten liberty.<\/p>\n<p>2. **Guarantee of a Republican Form of Government (Article IV, Section 4):** It ensures every state has a republican government, rooted in the sovereignty of the peopel, as opposed to democracies that operate on the rule of the manny, often at the expense of individual rights.<\/p>\n<p>3. **Thirteenth Amendment:** Abolishing slavery but allowing involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime, distinguishing between unjust slavery and lawful prison labor, thus reinforcing the rule of law and moral order.<\/p>\n<p>The article urges readers to recognize how the founders embedded love of freedom into even obscure constitutional passages and to reflect on the importance of these provisions in maintaining liberty today.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>On Sept. 17, 1787, thirty-nine delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia signed the draft of the United States Constitution. They then presented the finished document to the people of the 13 states for ratification.<\/p>\n<p>As we mark the 239th anniversary of that document\u2019s signing, we reflect on the current state of our constitutional system. That reflection produces a curious juxtaposition: on the one hand, a citizenry that still reveres its centuries-old Constitution; on the other hand, a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >political class totally unworthy<\/a> of it.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the unworthiness of our political officials merely encourages us to look deeper into our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/constitution-made-moral-people-time-teach-kids-lesson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constitution<\/a>. There, even in some of the most obscure passages, we find provisions calculated to keep us free. Three such passages deserve special attention.<\/p>\n<p>First, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/founding-docs\/constitution-transcript#1-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article I, Section 8, Clause 11<\/a>, we find Congress authorized to \u201cdeclare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though we acknowledge the sad fact that Congress has not bothered to formally declare war since World War II, and though we also acknowledge the myriad evils that have flowed from that dereliction of duty, the real curiosity here, at least for present purposes, lies in the phrase \u201cgrant Letters of Marque and Reprisal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In layman\u2019s terms, letters of marque and reprisal allow the government to enlist ordinary citizens as privateers. During wartime, those privateers prey on an enemy\u2019s commerce. The capture and subsequent sale of enemy ships and goods allows privateers to make a substantial profit. Thus, in a sense, letters of marque and reprisal temporarily legalize <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/un-told-merchant-ships-not-arm-pirates-piracy-escalates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">piracy<\/a> while turning it to both public and private advantage.<\/p>\n<p>How might this clause help keep us free? For that, we must think in terms of both practice and principle.<\/p>\n<p>In practice, of course, the existence of federal, state, and local law enforcement makes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/citizen-vigilante-review-honest-political-thriller-years-germany-banned\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vigilantism<\/a> effectively illegal inside U.S. borders. That holds true on both land and water.<\/p>\n<p>Outside the U.S., however, either in international waters or in the waters of one\u2019s (clearly defined, as in a declaration of war) enemy, letters of marque and reprisal could, for instance, allow private citizens-turned-privateers to intercept <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/us-kill-total-drug-boats-hits-133-strike-takes-3-narco-terrorists-caribbean\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">illegal drug boats<\/a>. In this case, direct payment from the government, as opposed to sale of illegal narcotics, would compensate the privateers. Meanwhile, using a special constitutional provision to enlist private citizens in their country\u2019s defense would only bolster freedom.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, the principle underlying letters of marque and reprisal deserves serious consideration.<\/p>\n<p>From ancient Athens to the Great Britain of our Founders\u2019 era, keen observers have noted the unfortunate connection between maritime power and empire. In other words, political leaders who possess large navies cannot help themselves. They build empires, and empires erode liberty at home.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, in the same way that citizen-soldiers help soothe fears of large, standing armies, privateers \u2014 citizen-sailors \u2014 provide a partial answer to the problem of large navies and their imperial consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Second, under the Constitution\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/founding-docs\/constitution-transcript#4-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article IV, Section 4<\/a>, the U.S. \u201cshall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Note the use of the word \u201cRepublican.\u201d Although capitalized in the text, this word does not refer to any political party. Instead, it refers to the form of government, republican, guaranteed to citizens of all states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRepublican\u201d comes from the Latin \u201cres publica,\u201d meaning \u201caffair of the public.\u201d This means that the whole public, the entire body of the people, exercises full sovereignty.<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, \u201cdemocracy,\u201d as understood for millennia, meant not \u201cpopular government\u201d but \u201crule of the many.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is a very different thing. In democracies, majorities always prevail. Democracies exist to serve the interests of the many, not to protect the rights of all.<\/p>\n<p>Aristotle, for instance, in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/sourcebooks.fordham.edu\/ancient\/aristotle-politics1.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Politics<\/a>,\u201d identified democracy as a \u201cperversion\u201d of a purer form, which he called \u201cpolity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Think of the people in recent years who have chanted \u201cdemocracy\u201d while burning vehicles or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/bill-maher-compares-woke-mob-enforcers-maos-cultural-revolution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tearing down statues<\/a>. Think of the media figures who have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/jasmine-crockett-go-sleep-democracy-may-die\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mindlessly<\/a> labeled their adversaries \u201cthreats to our democracy.\u201d On our most hotly contested issues, are these the people we regularly find on the side of freedom? Indeed, legendary Christian apologist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/screwtape-proposes-toast-c-s-lewis-believed-demons-love-democracy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">C.S. Lewis<\/a> likened democracy to a mere \u201cincantation\u201d and, in that respect, a tool of Satan.<\/p>\n<p>In short, the Constitution gave us a republic. Nowhere does the word \u201cdemocracy\u201d appear in that document.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the glorious <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/milestone-documents\/13th-amendment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">13th Amendment<\/a>, which abolished slavery, contains an important exception for \u201cinvoluntary servitude.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNeither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction,\u201d the amendment reads.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the state may impose labor requirements on those convicted of crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Republics, of course, have a special interest in punishing criminals who violate their laws. After all, those laws come not from kings but from the sovereign people. A criminal\u2019s transgression against republican law has much deeper moral consequences than, say, violating a king\u2019s arbitrary edict.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, the 13th Amendment, while wiping away the centuries-old stain of race-based chattel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-mamdani-open-forcing-new-yorkers-pay-cash-reparations-slavery-says-complicit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">slavery<\/a>, took care to distinguish between those individuals unjustly enslaved and those subjected to \u201cinvoluntary servitude\u201d in the form of prison labor. The political community has imposed the latter on those judged guilty in a court of law, not for the purpose of reviving that peculiar institution but as both punishment and deterrent designed to protect the freedom of innocent and law-abiding citizens.<\/p>\n<p>Remember this the next time you hear a leftist gripe about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/debunking-another-liberal-lie-course-policing-didnt-begin-slavery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prison<\/a> labor as a form of modern slavery. The two things, as the Constitution makes clear, have no relation to one another.<\/p>\n<p>In short, as we mark this great anniversary, let us not overlook the myriad ways in which our Founders (and their Civil War-Era descendants) wrote their love of freedom into even the Constitution\u2019s most obscure passages.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On September 17, 1787, 39 delegates signed the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia and submitted it for ratification by the states. Today, as we celebrate its 239th anniversary, we consider the present condition of our constitutional framework<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2663658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Constitution-Day.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[85842,85843,32595],"class_list":["post-2663657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-constitution-day","tag-constitutional-rules","tag-u-s-government"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Constitution-Day.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2663657"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2663661,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663657\/revisions\/2663661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2663658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2663657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2663657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2663657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}