[R. Scott]

Where did Franklin get the idea for this powerful clause, the one that is the engine behind the economic miracle of the United States of America? Every other clause in the Constitution has its progenitors in the works of Baron Montesquieu, John Locke, and other political and historical writers known to the Framers of the Constitution. This clause, and this one alone, has no ancestor.

Not quite.
Besides the Statute of Monopolies (1623), there was also The Statute of Anne; April 10, 1710

[Congressman Billybob]

Freepers are an incredibly knowledgeable bunch. You are the second poster to mention the Statute of Anne, 1709. I've been asked to go on with G. Gordon Liddy this afternoon to discuss this article. I will make that correction as well, on the air.

Thank you.

John / Billybob