The Curious Case of the United States By Joseph M. Anderson To study the history of the United States is to wrap one’s mind around a relentless drumbeat of the most stupefying contradictions. As one of the most glaring examples, the United States features one of the strongest checks on the unrestrained power of government in the federal Constitution. And yet, in complete defiance of all logic, many of the framers of this constitution claimed it was justified to hold against their will hundreds of human beings, to be used and traded as commodities on the market no less than timber or tea.