You can’t build a government without some ancient legal nitpicking. The founders borrowed English common law, which is basically a giant pile of old court decisions that judges pretend are sacred. They loved the idea of precedent: if a judge ruled in 1603 that stealing a pig is illegal, that rule still applies today. Unless you steal a very large pig, then it’s felony theft.
This gave us the messy, glorious system where lawyers argue about cases from three centuries ago. Imagine using your great-great-grandpa’s diary to win an argument about parking tickets. That’s American law.
The Delegates to the Constitutional Convention - The American Founding
Milton and the Puritans: The Oddballs
John Milton, the poet who wrote Paradise Lost, was a radical who argued for freedom of speech—except he hated Catholics. The Puritans, meanwhile, built self-governing church communities in New England. They held town meetings where everyone yelled about sermons and who stole whose cow. The founders saw this and thought, "Democracy! But with more arguing."
Those town meetings were the first practice runs for congressional gridlock. So thank the Puritans for filibusters. You’re welcome.
