What would the founders do? Figure it out yourself
I read a lot and hear a lot about what “the Founding Fathers” meant when they cobbled together the Constitution. And I read and hear a lot about what people think “the Founding Fathers” would do regarding issues faced by Americans today.
Indeed, a constitutional interpretation called “originalism” hinges on coming to some conclusion about the intent of the constitutional framers when they put pen and ink to paper.
Back in 2006, author Richard Brookhiser decided to take a run at figuring out how folks such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and a host of other pretty enlightened people would deal with the contemporary conflicts that require constitutional review. He wrote “What Would the Founders Do? Our Questions, Their Answers.”
It comes with some humor. An introductory note explains that Benjamin Franklin wanted the first letters of all nouns capitalized in the Constitution, an idea that did not garner support. And a couple pages at the end offer “Founderblogs,” fictional missives written by the founders in “blogspeak.”
But Brookhiser doesn’t take the premise of his book lightly, even though it reads lightly. And he offers ample bibliography and endnotes to give his conclusions some historical foundation on which to rest.
He wrote the book for some of the same reasons I wrote this posting: A lot of people — especially TV talking heads, political pundits and media columnists — claim to know how the Constitution’s creators think and would act today. If they don’t say outright they know, they pass on as fact what they believe to be true. More important for Brookshire, people of diverse backgrounds routinely would ask him what the founders would do.
His book doesn’t always deal with specific issues per se, rather it focuses on some general areas with specific historical context: “Liberty and Law;” “War and Peace;” “Men and Women;” “God and Man;” and “Money and Business.” For example, he offers a concise look at “their world” in a section that asks, “What would the founders do about terrorism?”
Americans tend to view terrorism as something new. Historians know better. It has existed in various forms and under a variety of definitions since the beginning of time. In fact, Brookhiser surmises based on events surrounding the American Revolution that some founders embraced it as a necessary means to change. Folks would do well to read this book, a tight 200 pages.
But they would do better to make a list of some key positions they have on life in America and try to find out how the founders match up. This site and Colonial Williamsburg’s resources offer some of the best vehicles for doing that.
Here are places you can start:
- George Mason’s Remarks On Independent Elections
- A Letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison
- John Adams, Defence Of The Constitutions….
- An Accidental Republic?
- A Man of Firmness: Justice John Blair and the Letter of the Law
- Thomas Jefferson, Son of Virginia
- Politics in Colonial Virginia
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Magnoliacom
Newsvine
Furl
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
