What Philosophy Did The Fathers Use As A Basis For Constitutional Rights?

here is a list of man-made islands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artificial_islands
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here is a list of man-made islands w airports on them

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Artificial_island_airports​

 

Congress has passed ~ 25 amendments to the US constitution, no?

 

The words "well regulated" have meaning, do they not?

 

It means 'stand down and stand by'!

 

Which ones of us are 3/5th of a person?

 

"It has stood the test of time" --pgabs

 

If you think the civil war was purely about slavery, then you are in no position to talk about stuff like the constitution

 

Its not set in stone. We have an amendment process and its bar is set very high.

In other words, if the issue is serious enough that we can get 75% of the country to agree on, we can change it. Its not hard to get 51% of people to agree on something. Its much harder to get 75%. The next step down from mob rule (51%) is civil war.

 

Slavery was already on the outs. I wish to think the cause of the civil war to end slavery was about the individuals needs. But it was about economics. The south didn't want to give up its cheap labor and the north didnt want to give up its markets over seas that we starting to boycott American goods.

Im not much about the racial boogie man, but I can say there was not very many white people who were willing to die for a black man to be freed. And there was a lot of white people who died.

 

"It has stood the test of time" --pgabs

 

Should we keep it all?

 

The secession documents aren't 100% in line with this.
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/secession-the-confederate-flag-and-slavery

 

The Founding Fathers are very important figures not just for the US but for World History. Their influence has greatly shaped how we understand the nature of the individual versus the state.

Me personally I am a big admirer of the the US Founding Fathers and especially during the Trump Presidency has made me appreciate their ideas and the ideas enshrined in the US Constitution far more. That doesn't mean that these people weren't very flawed people and that the Constitution isn't a flawed document. As noted there is an amendment process and there is a reason why it's a high bar to change.

It's also very important to keep in context what was happening then when the Constitution was written. It is a product of a time when slavery was not only legal but widely accepted throughout the World. As much as we criticize the US and the Founding Fathers for preserving the institution we need to remember that the UK along with most of Europe in addition to then world powers of China and India still practiced slavery. In the late 18th Century slavery was the norm.

That the US Founding Fathers for the time preserved slavery given the time was to be expected. That many of the Founding Fathers were against slavery and there was very serious consideration in banning it at the Constitutional Convention is one of the remarkable things about that group.

While the Founders were men of their time with the failings of their times it's how they were able to look beyond those times. The ideas of Enlightenment ideas of individual liberty and separation of powers is what is to be admired and followed. These people obviously couldn't foresee things like airplanes, the Internet, and nuclear weapons but those ideas still apply and I think are just as relevant now as when they were first written.

 

Just to add for those who complain about the undemocratic nature of Founding Fathers and the US election system a big reason for that was prevent a Trump like figure.

Hamilton wrote in Federalist 1 about the danger of "demagogues and zealots" becoming tyrants. He foresaw how a popular individual could use grievance to take over a country and also how a President could use the power of government for personal gain.