# How Well Does the Constitution Protect Liberty? **URL:** **By** Sheldon Richman, Aaron Ross Powell, Trevor Burrus **Published:** February 12, 2016 --- Sheldon Richman joins us to talk about the origins of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Why are these documents venerated by many libertarians? Is the Constitution a document that originally meant to limit government? Did the Articles of Confederation do a better job? Sheldon Richman joins us this week to talk about the origins of the American government. Is it possible to write a constitution that’ll keep government in check forever? **Show Notes and Further Reading** Richman's original blog posts on the subject, ["The Constitution Revisited"](http://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2016/01/tgif-constitution-revisited.html) and ["The Bill of Rights Revisited."](http://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2016/01/tgif-bill-of-rights-revisited.html) Jeffrey Rogers Hummel's work is referenced often in this episode. Here's an article he wrote with William Marina in the April 1987 issue of _Reason_ entitled ["Did the Constitution Betray the Revolution?"](http://reason.com/archives/2013/08/05/did-the-constitution-betray-th) Gordon Wood's book on the American Revolution, [_The Radicalism of the American Revolution_](http://www.amazon.com/Radicalism-American-Revolution-Gordon-Wood/dp/0679736883) , is also mentioned, as is Merrill Jensen's book [_The Articles of Confederation: An Interpretation of the Social-Constitutional History of the American Revolution, 1774-1781_](http://www.amazon.com/The-Articles-Confederation-Interpretation-Social-Constitutional/dp/0299002047) .