India, July 11 -- As the US celebrates its 250th anniversary, we have been inundated with reflections on its past achievements and present frailties. The common theme has been to consider how far the country has lived up to - or strayed from - what is called the Spirit of '76, the rousing love for liberty that led 13 plucky colonies to teach Britain, their "assuming brother", a lesson on the rightful bounds of power.

But do we measure a nation by its youthful ardour or by its considered later choices? 1776 is where the generation that founded the US began its journey, but where did it end up? By 1787, when Americans gave themselves a Constitution, a very different idea was in circulation. Living in an era in which dominion dare not speak...