“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
In recent decades, our Founding Fathers have been the target of some bitter revisionist attacks. For example, many cannot forgive them for being slaveholders. Many cannot forgive them for infringing on Native American lands, or their “failure” to give women the right to vote – as though that would have been possible in the eighteenth century (which it clearly wasn’t). Racism, sexism, and any number of other modern charges are leveled at the Founding Fathers. In short, the Founding Fathers are judged by various modern standards – which is always a mistake. Things that today are an accomplished fact were, in their own time, completely unattainable. The pace of progress is usually slow, and some problems can only be fixed after several generations have passed. Thus, in the larger perspective of history, the progress in the Founding Fathers’ time was actually astonishingly fast, and more than anyone in that time would have dreamt possible. It is true that our Founding Fathers had some very real flaws, but the revisionist arguments about them seem to have even greater flaws. Few of those who make these arguments have ever studied the Founding Fathers’ actual ideas in any sort of depth. Thus, an examination of the Founding Fathers’ ideas would seem appropriate here, to show that their ideas have actually aged remarkably well. Their ideas can withstand the most vigorous scrutiny, and remain quite relevant … all these years later.
George Mason, one of our lesser-known Founding Fathers
Founding Father writings in the period leading up to American independence
In 1774, Thomas Jefferson published his work “A Summary View of the Rights of British America.” In the context of the upcoming revolution, this work was an important contribution to the colonial debate. In 1775, the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord. In January 1776, Thomas Paine published his pamphlet “Common Sense” – and, in April 1776, John Adams published his brief “Thoughts on Government.” In May 1776, George Mason wrote the “Virginia Declaration of Rights,” which was later ratified by the Virginia legislature in June 1776. And on July 4th, 1776, the thirteen colonies declared their independence from Great Britain – the famous “Declaration of Independence.” From 1776 to 1783, Thomas Paine wrote his work “An American Crisis.” This is the work where he declared: “These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.” (Source: Volume I, Chapter I)
John Trumbull’s “Declaration of Independence”
Founding Father writings in the later part of the war, and the period shortly after the war
In 1779, John Adams wrote the first draft of the “Constitution of Massachusetts” (ratified the following year in 1780). This would later have a great influence upon our national Constitution. During the war, the Continental Congress also passed the “Articles of Confederation” (ratified in 1781). Some would consider this document to be our first national constitution. In 1783, the war ended, and George Washington refused to be king – thus saving the American Revolution from the “Newburgh Conspiracy.” This was an almost unprecedented act of walking away from power. In 1785, Thomas Jefferson published his work “Notes on the State of Virginia.” A few years earlier, he had written the “Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom” back in 1777. This then went into effect in 1786. Later on, Thomas Jefferson would become the third president of the United States, but he didn’t deem this accomplishment to be worthy of mention on his own gravestone. Rather, his epitaph mentioned that he was the “author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia.” (Source: Monticello website)
Independence Hall
Founding Father writings from the original United States Constitution to its Bill of Rights
In 1786, there was a failed constitutional convention at Annapolis. And, in 1787, there was an ultimately successful one at Philadelphia. James Madison wrote the first draft of the document that was eventually produced therein. And Gouverneur Morris later wrote the final draft of the “Constitution of the United States” (albeit one that could later be amended). This was signed on September 17th, 1787. But there was a fierce debate about the Constitution, from one end of these thirteen former colonies to the other. Many Founding Fathers supported the document, but many others opposed it. Thus, in this debating context, a work called the “Federalist Papers” was written by three of our pro-Constitution Founding Fathers. These three men were simply Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. The “Federalist Papers” were written and published between 1787 and 1788. They are today the most powerful evidence for the original intent of the United States Constitution. Also between 1787 and 1788, John Adams wrote a three-volume work of his own. It was entitled “A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America.” In 1791, Thomas Paine also wrote his work “Rights of Man,” as a response to Edmund Burke’s 1790 work “Reflections on the Revolution in France.” Thomas Paine’s “Rights of Man” is thus another important product of the founding generation. And, in 1791, a Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution, consisting of ten important amendments. Many of the contemporary debates about our Constitution’s meaning have centered around these ten amendments, and the related Fourteenth Amendment – produced by a later generation.
The Constitutional Convention, 1787
The Constitution allowed future amendments to end slavery and grant suffrage
But, in the context of today, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are often criticized for what they said about Native Americans (more about that here). The original United States Constitution also contained some unfortunate (but nonetheless unavoidable) compromises over slavery. These included the Slave Importation Clause, the Three-Fifths Clause, and the Fugitive Slave Clause. But many of the Founding Fathers were more critical of slavery. Many of them, like John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, never actually owned a slave themselves. Thus, the original Constitution also provided an important mechanism for its own amendment. This meant that the compromises over slavery were eventually changed by the Civil War amendments. Among other things, these amendments completely abolished chattel slavery in the United States. They also ensured citizenship to all persons “born or naturalized in the United States,” regardless of race (Source: Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1). They even made voting rights independent of race. And, in the twentieth century, a subsequent amendment also made voting rights independent of “sex” (or gender). It is true that the Founding Fathers did not always agree with each other, as Joseph Ellis’s “Founding Brothers” reminds us. But they all shared a commitment to freedom and democracy, for as many people in their own time as their contemporaries would then allow. After the war, slavery was abolished in the north, partly under the influence of Benjamin Franklin. And the Founding Fathers laid the foundations for many others to be freed in the upcoming centuries. They provided the framework by which the aforementioned amendments of later times could be obtained. And we continue to live in the democracy that they created, which remains one of the most prosperous countries in the world.
Gouverneur Morris, one of our lesser-known Founding Fathers
Conclusion: Remaining true to the Founding Fathers’ legacy will help us to stay free
Thus, dismissing the accomplishments of the Founding Fathers … would be to throw out the baby with the bathwater. One cannot responsibly ignore this mountain of evidence for their stunning legacy of success. Some might object that it is not “perfect” – as though anything in this world could be made perfect. But some seem to believe that our society could indeed be made “perfect,” if we only granted massive power to the government – sold as a “prerequisite” for enacting some much-needed progress. But these massive power grants always seem to enable increased abuses of that power – and, in the case of the French and Russian Revolutions, outright tyranny. Therefore, these schemes seem (pretty much always) to have a way of backfiring. These utopian schemes have never succeeded, even once … but have only made things worse. By contrast, the Constitution has a long-established track record of success – far more than any socialist or communist state has ever obtained. Our Founding Fathers laid the foundations for our current success, and our rise as a great world superpower. To the extent that we abandon this heritage, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot. And, to the extent that we return to it, we enable ourselves to remain prosperous, strong, and (most importantly) free.
“I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does … Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best.”
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