Quote:
Originally Posted by SR71
I've heard these arguments before, and in general, as with so many things, they leave me feeling conflicted and confused. Maybe the real story is a mixed bag of idealistic, enlightenment intention and self serving power grab. Certainly when you read some of the preserved personal communications of some the founders, you see a sincere desire for the realization of principles of liberty and social justice. They were not cynically self serving at that point, for the most part.
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Meh, not so much. Jefferson certainly was behind the people, but not the rest of those elite asshats that decorate our coins and currency. They held a serious distrust of democracy and the common people, and made a concerted effort at the Constitutional Convention to create a national government designed to be unresponsive to the people but very responsive to the gentry and wealthy elite. To that end, they were pretty successful.