""On every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed.""
— Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, 12 June 1823
Historical Significance
Jefferson's guidance on interpreting constitutional language according to original intent
Historical Significance
Jefferson’s guidance on interpreting constitutional language according to original intent