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The criticism against Federal Government is one of the defining characteristics of the Republican Party. But analysts usually fall short of explaining it. This article attempts to analyze the antigovernmental mood of the American Right by linking it to the confederate theories of antebellum America. More specifically, it tries to show that Calhoun's theories are present in some aspects of the current conservative constitutional analysis, especially in the writings of Justice Clarence Thomas. It then moves on to an account of Calhoun's constitutional views as well as his assertion that America lacked a true national identity before the Civil War. These ideas still largely forgotten are nonetheless crucial in understanding important parts of the conservative intellectual renewal.