"The constitutional design was a republic"

No, it was not.

The word, "republic" is from the Latin "res publica" which means "a thing of the people."

The masses of people had nothing to do with the constitution. It was invented and imposed on us by those who thought they were better than the rest of us.

Here you go.:

"The Constitution looked fairly good on paper, but it was not a popular document; people were suspicious of it, and suspicious of the enabling legislation that was being erected upon it. There was some ground for this. <b>The Constitution had been laid down under unacceptable auspices; its history had been that of a coup d'état.</b>

It had been drafted, in the first place, by men representing special economic interests. Four-fifths of them were public creditors, one-third were land speculators, and one-fifth represented interests in shipping, manufacturing, and merchandising. Most of them were lawyers. Not one of them represented the interest of production — Vilescit origine tali. (the dice were loaded from the start)"

Albert Jay Nock, Liberty vs. the Constitution: The Early Struggle

Mises.org/daily/4254 Liberty vs. the Constitution: The Early Struggle | Mises Institute https://mises.org/library/liberty-vs-constitution-early-struggle