Did the Founders Hate Government?

[mackattack]

5. Wow....no

Not at all. I teach this to college kids. Here is the quick version:

The Articles of the Confederation were the rules we went by before we had the Constitution. Under the Articles we had a very, very, very weak central government and it was all about state's rights. So the national government asked for things like troops to defend the borders against British and Spanish. They asked for money to pay off the Rev War debt. They asked the states to contribute to civilization.

The states said no. Everyone was broke and more people were in prison for debts than actual crimes. There were open and armed revolts. There were rebellions against banks confiscating people's farms. We couldnt raise a national army and we couldnt create and maintain a navy. No body pitched in. They all expected somebody else to do it. When the national government asked for money the states told them to go to hell. It's the free rider problem. Good times, right?


So the founders got together and said, 'hey we have to sacrifice some of our state's rights liberty so we can have security and a working country.' They did just that and came up with the Bill of Rights and later passed things like the 14th Amendment to make sure that state's werent taking away things guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

Anyone who tells you that the founders were against government is lying to your face. We tried the limited government thing under the Articles...it didnt work. The South tried the limited government thing during the Civil War and there were surpluses of bullets, boots, and troops hoarded in states while the Army of Northern Virginia starved and bled to death. They Southern states said 'nope, these are our things and we wont share them. The "lost cause" was lost because of state's rights.

If anyone tells you the founders hated government, you tell them to read the Federalist Papers. They wont. But I will tell you this. It is 85 amazing, concise, and immaculatly worded articles on why government is absolutely and unequivocally necessary for a civilization to flourish and prosper.

This state centered approach favored by the right doesnt work. It destroys individual liberty (just ask an African American before 1964), it hurts defenses, and it keeps us from competing economically on the international level. Founders said we need it. End of story.