Where America Has Gone Wrong: Abandoning the Ideas Of Our Founding Fathers
May 4, 2007
The American Founding Fathers are the cornerstone of this Republic. They believed that active participation through voting, owning property, and upholding the values of the Constitution were the benchmark that all citizens must follow. These imperative philosophies, however, have been allowed to wander in the past fifty years. If America continues down her current path in the clumsy, misguided ideas of modern thought, America will no longer be the greatest beacon of freedom in the world.
George Washington, John Adams and the other leaders of the Federalist Party believed that a government which recognizes the greater individual rights compared to other nations was essential. David Ricci, in his book Good Citizenship in America, writes, “The Founders further agreed that the Constitution would establish a government that could not, under most circumstances, focus its powers so sharply as to be tyrannical.”1 The reason America had its revolution in the first place was to distance itself from the tyrannical rule of the king, who did not believe in the consent of the governed or in the natural rights of all to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
One of the paramount figures of the American founding generation was the second president, a man I dubbed as the American Genius, John Adams. Until David McCullough’s book, John Adams, was released, I would argue that President Adams was one the most undervalued and unappreciated presidents in American history. His accomplishments were essential to understanding the basic fundamentals on which this nation was founded. Without John Adams, George Washington would not have been the leader of the American military or the first president of this great land. It was a suggestion from John Adams to put Washington in this role that spared one of the greatest revolutions and leaders in this nation’s history. In the book Founders’ Almanac the authors write, “Liberty, for Adams, meant freedom from foreign domination, freedom from unjust coercion, freedom from other individuals, and the tyranny of one’s passions. A free people ought to be jealous of their liberties and rights and they must stand on guard to protect them. Adams knew that genuine freedom is genuine, fragile, fleeting, and rare; few people have it and those who do must fight to keep it.”2 Having individual freedom that cannot be infringed upon is a dream of the majority of citizens on this earth, and Adams was arguing that those who are given these freedoms must neither abuse them nor infringe on the rights of others.
Today, too many American citizens abuse the rights and freedoms they were given. A great example of this is the burning of the American flag. While some might argue that this is the ultimate expression of their freedom of speech, they are extraordinarily wrong. The flag is the national symbol of the freedom, liberty, and individuality that makes up this great nation; a man who chooses to burn it disgraces his nation. John Adams and the American Founding Fathers would have never imagined how extreme these arguments over what constitutes free speech would have become. Adams believed we must fight to protect the rights we have. This, however, is not occurring in the United States today, as too many people feel that the right to this type of expression has been handed to them on a silver platter and is among their unalienable rights. This is not the case at all. America is the land of opportunity and freedom, but it is also a nation in which its citizens must cooperate in order to achieve the goal of promoting freedom and having a government that fulfills the will of the governed.
John Adams, like John Locke, believed in Natural Law, meaning that all citizens are endowed with certain unalienable rights by their Creator: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In his book Political Consciousness and American Democracy, James Lea writes, “The Federalists viewed Human nature as a paradox. Humans may not be completely depraved, but they are caught up in conflicts between reason and passion, between self-interest and public interest.”3 The Federalists were arguing that all citizens should follow the ideas of John Locke and Natural Law but it is not always easy to accomplish. Americans are finding this out in this day and age, and it is upsetting many of them. Many Americans pursue the “get rich quick” mentality, hoping to become wealthy without having to work for it; in most cases, this is not reality. Citizens of this nation must realize that just because they wanted to create their own independent nation, it did not mean they did not have to work for it. The struggle was long and difficult, but it paid off because of their determination, effort, and their pursuit of their deep belief in the tenets of Natural Law.
One of the most important ideas of the American founding was the belief in the consent of the governed. In the book The Founders Almanac, the authors write, “As early as 1775, notably in his Thoughts on Government, Adams was advocating that new constitutions be drafted and governments established on the basis of the consent of the governed.”4 The consent of the governed is the most important aspect to understand when looking at the foundation of the American political system. The consent of the governed means fulfilling the will of the people and giving them the ability to make decisions regarding the operations of government. In order for true consent of the governed to exist, citizens of this nation must actively engage in the process of voting. During the time of the Founding Fathers it was seen as a disgrace to the American political system not to carry out this right.
Voter turnout in what are meant to be the most important elections for citizens—local and state elections—is dismal. The number of eligible voters actually voting in the last two presidential elections has been less than stellar. The greatest right and opportunity citizens have is the ability to elect leaders to serve their interests in the governing bodies of this land. In the book Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class and Justice in the Origins of America, Thomas G. West writes, “As a practical matter, no founder believed that every individual in society had to vote in order for government to be based on consent.”5 The founding fathers did not believe that every citizen had to vote in order for there to be the consent of the governed; instead they felt that the majority of the citizenry that did vote, and agreed, were to be the consent. Not everyone in these early years was allowed to vote; a very select group was actually given that right. Those select few eagerly exercised that right.
Today that right to vote has been greatly taken for granted. Voting is the easiest way to be active in workings of government and is a civic responsibility for all citizens. Too many American citizens feel that voting is a waste of their time and that their elected officials poorly represent them anyway. Often times that may be the case, and in that instance it is important that citizens are actively engaged in the art of voting. If more Americans do not start voting and do not strive to inform themselves about candidates, they risk electing tyrants who want to destroy the very freedoms they enjoy. Thomas Jefferson, in his note on the State of Virginia Query, wrote, “Every Government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories.”6 Jefferson is correct; the people are the only force which has the power to ensure this government is being run they way they want—free from corruption and tyranny, and ensuring the consent of the governed. Americans must preserve their own power through their use of the means granted them: informed, responsible voting.
In order to see continued success as the greatest bastion of freedom in the world, America must not stray from the example of the Founding Fathers. Perhaps one of the greatest expressions which sums this up was made by Thomas West, who wrote, “The Founders wrote and approved a Declaration of Independence whose central proposition was that ‘all men are created equal.’ They set up a government that did what no democracy had ever done before: it combined majority rule with effective protection for minority rights. It enabled a large number of men and women to live in prosperity and liberty than any other nation has ever done.”7 This nation, the United States of America, gives its citizens opportunities of which others can only dream. The American population of the 21st Century has forgotten about the accomplishments of the greatest generation of men in this country’s history, and such forgetfulness is skirting real danger.
It must be a priority for all schools, legislators and citizens to continue to learn more about the founding fathers and their visions for America. Citizens must uphold the ideals of voting, service, ownership of property, and respecting the rights of fellow citizens, and they must never take their freedoms for granted. The accomplishments of these men are the bedrock of American culture. They created the laws and expectations of the land in the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the United States Constitution – three pinnacle documents that all citizens should take to heart. Tom Brokaw wrote a book called The Greatest Generation, in which he argues that the men who fought in World War II were part of the greatest generation. I would respectfully disagree, as I believe that the greatest generation of America was the founding fathers. Their accomplishments will stand the test of time, and if we continue to uphold these principles, we too can be part of the greatest generation.
1 David M. Ricci, Good Citizenship in America (London: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 67.
2 Matthew Spalding, ed., The Founders’ Almanac: A Practical Guide to the Notable Events, Greatest Leaders and Most Eloquent Words of the American Founding (Washington D.C: Heritage Foundation, 2002), 70.
3 James F. Lea, Political Consciousness and American Democracy (Mississippi: University of Mississippi press, 1982.) 23.
4 Spalding, Matthew, ed. The Founders’ Almanac: A Practical Guide to the Notable Events, Greatest Leaders and Most Eloquent Words of the American Founding. Washington D.C: Heritage Foundation, 2002, 72.
5 Thomas G. West, Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class and Justice in the Origins of America (Lanham: Rowan and Littlefield, 1997), 79-80.
6 Spalding, Matthew, ed. The Founders’ Almanac: A Practical Guide to the Notable Events, Greatest Leaders and Most Eloquent Words of the American Founding. Washington D.C: Heritage Foundation, 2002, 178.
7 West, Thomas G. Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class and Justice in the Origins of America Lanham: Rowan and Littlefield, 1997, Preface pg. xi.
Where America Has Gone Wrong: Abandoning the Ideas Of Our Founding Fathers was written by PAI's Poltical Analyst © PAI 2007.