America, so far, is exceptional in that it still exists after nearly 250 years and public attention,

…America, so far, is exceptional in that it still exists after nearly 250 years and public attention, albeit insufficient, is still being paid to its founding principles. It helps that the story of America’s founding is neither a fairy tale nor a bedtime story. We claim it as a good story. Besides, who can love an ugly founding?

What took place between the meeting of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the adoption of the Bill of Rights in 1791 is a truly remarkable story. It’s worthy of spending time going back to the 18th century, because it’s a story that still matters today. Are discussion and debate, compromise and accepting outcomes still relevant? Do ideas matter?

We can learn what it takes to create and, following Benjamin Franklin, to keep a democratic republic. We citizens need to know this story. Unfortunately, many of us are unfamiliar with it or have been told incomplete versions. Some commentators even peddle blatantly false versions that are guided by political ideology. Nevertheless, the story of the American Founding is a story of hope.

We invite readers to re-familiarize themselves with the story of the American Founding or, perhaps, read the true story for the first time at AmericanFounding.org. Our approach is to present America’s Founding in its unvarnished truth, free from ideological influence. We ask readers to suspend their biases and approach the original sources with an open mind, seeking first to understand the Founders on their own terms.

We hope that the reader who honestly approaches 1774-1791 in this way will conclude that America’s Founding, with all its flaws, offers us the best chance to beat the odds and not end up in the dustbin of history. This regime, grounded in the natural rights doctrine of the Declaration of Independence and created by reflection and choice, deserves our close attention…






Read more history: https://www.realclearpublicaffairs.com/articles/2022/08/03/we_need_to_embrace_the_hopeful_story_of_americas_founding_845659.html






This is an exceptional article about the worth of our history and founding. It is important that our founding and history be taught from original sources. Our founding laid the foundation for a great republic and the longest lasting written constitution and bill of rights in the history of mankind.

 

Our constitutional Republic is the best form of government devised by fallen mankind and it is up to us now to see if we can keep it as Benjamin Franklin challenged long ago at its creation.

 

I confess my American history is a little bit rusty, but did any black men make the list of notables here: https://americanfounding.org/#accordion-block_61b9e23c36735

And also, just for historical context, did America start enslaving Africans before during or after founding?

I am asking because that would speak to the relevance of founding to today's multicultural and diverse american populace, wouldn't it?

 

What does that say though, about the UK and many other European nations? After all you constitution did not come out of nowhere. It was modelled off of documents such as the Magna Carta

 

Great Britain began the process of bringing slaves to their colonies over 150 years prior to the beginning of the effort to become an independent nation. The resentment and hostility toward our founding as a nation, our founding documents, and founding fathers and to our history as a young nation newly independent is duly noted.

 

A whole bunch of things out of the enlightenment era as well as Ancient Greek and Roman history are well known contributors to the ideas that were expanded upon to create our Declaration of Independence and our constitution. We are a culmination of all those combined earlier efforts combined with our own founders contributions.

 

I don't know why you choose the word resentful or hostile. It's just about expanding founding to incorporate all Americans.

Well I did some research and answered my own question. The first black slaves were imported 1619. Judging by the photos and the names they didn't make the cut for a say in the country's future. In fact it doesn't look like they were considered Americans at all. A pity this isn't acknowledged.

 

LOL!

Slavery started long before the founding of the nation. They were brought here by the Brits.

In the original Constitution, a black slave was legally 3/5 of a man.

Of course women had far fewer rights no matter their color.

 

and as we all know that was done to limit the power of the slave states in the future federal government.

 

Thanks.

It's difficult to know how to respond to this. I was going to say, "not as bad as I thought", but then again...

 

Interesting! So it was about limiting power of states that had a lot of blacks.

Is that where gerrymandering has its origins?

 

Go read what Stephen Douglas wrote about the issue from a freed slave perspective and then love America as much as he did

 

Do you hate your kid when you tell them they can do better?

It's perfectly possible to love your country while at the same time pointing out where it can be improved.

 

Slavery was an intrinsic part of human society for all of history until about 400 years ago. It still exists in some parts of the world. At its founding America began the process of ending slavery.

 

Go read what Frederick Douglas wrote about the issue from a freed slave perspective and then love America as much as he did

 

Fair enough. I'll check them out.

 

But that’s not good enough for America haters who despise our history and everything the country ever stood for and would rather obsess over the wounds of the past and forever pick at the scab of everyone of our mistakes as a nation. For them there is no healing, no forgiveness, no reconciliation, only bitterness anger and an attempt to destroy to below the foundation and erect something else.

 

I haven't read all the web pages in the OP, but if that's true then that should be taught as part of the learning process.

We did something similar in Australia and it seemed to work well. It's a compromise between rosy idealism and grim reality.

 

the 3/5 rule, "as we all know" multiplied the influence of the slave owners. the "property" had no vote and no representatives in congress.

should illegal immigrants be counted in the census?

 

it is as bad as you thought. @XXJefferson#51 is spinning (as usual). see my reply #19

 

The UK banned slavery in both 1807 (The slave trade) and 1833.( holding slaves.)
France banned slavery in its colonies in 1794 and then again in 1848.
The US banned slavery in 1865.
I wonder what the founding fathers would have thought of those nations?

 

It actually banned slavery throughout the empire - didn’t stop some though

 

The first recorded concept of democracy as generally described in your founding documents was in Greece. The UK introduced the idea of communal check on power centralised in one ruler/ divine right of kings in the 14th century Magna Carta.
These principles designed the democratic form of government followed by western nations when absolute monarchies fell, usually by révolution against the absolute power by divine right, and the democratic principle begun in Greece combined with the 18th century British and French principles of the Enlightenment which gave the nations their Bill of Rights, go back before your founding documents.
Your documents were your version of the logical outcome of what had been happening in Europe and where the principles still apply.

 

It has for a long time been taught as just that. That’s the balance you describe of idealism and reality. It’s already being done. No one hides that slavery happened or that it was wrong. The difference here is between traditional American history and the 1619 /CRT propaganda that says our country was solely founded to preserve slavery and to say that to this day there are oppressed and oppressors based on color of skin and that our whole history and present is about systemic racism. We will not accept those things and will get that out of our schools and where we do not we will take our kids out of said schools for charter, private, home schools. In red states and counties our kids will not be taught that crap. Period. Non negotiable. Even if it means that there are two America’s when it comes to what our kids learn of our history and what they think of our past.

 

The slave states got to count 3/5ths of their slave population for the purpose of congressional representation. That was the point. It was obvious that slave states weren’t giving slaves human rights or voting rights. Slave states wanted all of their slaves counted for that purpose and non slave states wanted none of them to count for that purpose. This was the compromise reached to get the constitution approved. So, had the north won the argument and the slaves not counted at all would your side have accused the north of not counting the slaves as human at all for this purpose?

No, illegal aliens should not be counted in our census of the American people for any reason whatsoever. Totally different issue.