Allow the man responsible for writing it, James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, to answer that question:
“In framing a system which we wish to last for ages, we should not lose sight of the changes which ages will produce. An increase of population will of necessity increase the proportion of those who will labor under all the hardships of life, and secretly sigh for a more equal distribution of its blessings. These may in time outnumber those who are placed above the feelings of indigence. According to the equal laws of suffrage, the power will slide into the hands of the former. No agrarian attempts have yet been made in this country, but symptoms of a leveling spirit, as we have understood, have sufficiently appeared in a certain quarters to give notice of the future danger.”
This quote and many other Madison quotes can be found at "
What Would The Founders Think?" Here's two more that put the mindset of the founders into modern perspective:
“A mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the several departments, is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government in the same hands.”
“A remedy must be obtained from the people who can, by the election of more faithful representatives, annul the acts of the usurpers.”
Read and follow "
What Would The Founders Think?," one of the most valuable and timely resources on the internet. The more one studies the founders, the more one comes to believe that, if reincarnated today, they would be uncompromising advocates of liberty and would count progressives as their deadliest enemies, no less dangerous than their British overlords of the 18th century.
2 comments:
Great resource, Sherman.
I'm particularly impressed by the significance of the use of the word "danger" in the first Madison quote that ended with, ". . . notice of the future danger.”
If I can guess what he was thinking, I would agree with him.
Ditto. These guys had their act together.
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