Impartial Examiner I - Expressly Reserved Rights

In Impartial Examiner I an anonymous Anti-Federalist author attacks the Constitution for its lack of a Bill of Rights.

Impartial Examiner I

February 20, 1788

In the first Essay of the Impartial Examiner, this anonymous Anti-Federalist writer attacks the United States Constitution for being written in haste while leaving out a Bill of Rights.

Published in Virginia, this lengthy article implores the people of that State to deeply analyze the Constitution before it is ratified and to notice the major flaws in a document that the author believes to be too radical. 

Arbitrary Government

The Examiner spends a significant part of the article reviewing the reasons for, and operation of, government.

He discusses the difference between ‘arbitrary’ (authoritarian) and ‘free’ (republican) governments.

It is acknowledged that government is itself an agreement between the people of a society to work together as a group in an effort to secure the liberties of each individual.

Haste

The Examiner goes on to warn readers that there should be no need to ratify the Constitution so quickly as many Federalists were promoting.

In fact, he questions the need for a new Government altogether.

So many of his contemporary citizens had just fought the Revolutionary War to throw off the British Government. Now, less than five years later, they want to throw off the Articles of Confederation (and with it the State Governments).

Though, like most Anti-Federalists, the Examiner admits the Articles need some amending, he believes such a radical overhaul of the current power structure will only lead to a government ripe with corruption.

Expressly Reserved

The Examiner continues by demonstrating his main concern...the lack of a Bill of Rights.

He notes that any rights which are not ‘expressly reserved’ will assuredly be taken away.

Without a Bill of Rights, the liberties of individuals lack this reservation and, therefore, will quickly be surrendered.

Supremacy

This Essay additionally attacks Article Six of the Constitution, specifically, the Supremacy Clause.

His belief is that the Constitution’s ability to override State laws will eventually delete the individual State Bills of Rights in its attempts to accumulate power.

The Examiner closes with a criticism of the Federalist Papers (or, as he says, ‘a zealous advocate’ in a ‘northern state’) whom he believes is casually disregarding the need to expressly reserve the rights of individual citizens.

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