Hamilton argued for protective tariffs in 1791. The structural argument is identical 230 years later. The vocabulary changed. The argument didn't.

Washington warned against it. Hamilton designed the Electoral College to prevent it. The anxiety is a continuous thread from the founding to the latest executive order.

Madison called it the mortal disease of republics in Federalist 10. The modern corpus is entirely organized by factional output. The disease became the operating system.

The Constitution puts Congress first. The corpus is 99.8% executive branch output. Two centuries of that priority quietly reversing, documented in their own words.

Every document in this corpus claims its authority from popular sovereignty. The mechanism changed. The rhetorical move is identical. “I speak for you.”