it was the 18th century a very different world.
Specific to the Constitutional question at hand, the attitudes of the men who were our Founders and the intent of the language that they included is all that matters, from the mid-18th century. They were breaking away from a monarchy and establishing a constitutional republic, the first since the fall of Rome.
It was in many ways a novel undertaking, but the guiding philosophies behind the establishment of the nation had ample precedent. That precedent was not always out of England, however. They had fought a war, and would fight another with England.