In political way of thinking limited government is where the government is given power from a starting point of having no power, or where governmental power is taken away by law, usually in a written constitution. It is a key idea in the history of liberalism. The United States Constitution gives an example of the federal government not possessing any power except what is transferred to it by the Constitution - with the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution specifically stating that powers not specifically given to the federal government are reserved for the people and the states. Limited government put into practice often involves the protection of individual freedom from government invasion.
The original authors of the United States Constitution saw fit to limit the powers of government, as set forth in the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson. Here, Jefferson outlined three basic statements widely adhered to by the people of the American colonies. Supporters of the Declaration believed that these statements were not sufficiently adhered to by or through the English monarchy. In order to prevent this travesty the framers of the constitution made limited government a principle tenet of the constitution. Among the assertions were that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that governments are instituted in order to preserve these rights. It was the colonial experience of many Americans that the English government was not adhering to these premises, and it was for this reason that the colonies saw fit to establish their own government in which all three of these assertions would be respected.
