Why should we care what the Founding Fathers wanted?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Why should we care what the Founding Fathers wanted?

eSports Chaebol: Feb 22, 2005; Yeah, actually, gamers in the house forever,

Crazy Joe Wilson posted:

Simplifying the American Revolution to a supposed "FYGM Mentality" of the Founders is very useful for those with an agenda, for the actual study of history it's pretty useless.

It's actually less useful to promote an agenda than simplifying it to :911:

which is more common (hence this thread).

# ¿ May 18, 2014 19:58

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 09:43

eSports Chaebol: Feb 22, 2005; Yeah, actually, gamers in the house forever,

Last Buffalo posted:

In an attempt to re-rail the thread, I have a related question.

Modern American government and society has outright rejected a lot of what the founding fathers preferred. Probably the biggest thing that comes to mind is white supremacy. Many, if not most of the Founding Fathers were clear racists who believed in the superiority of white Christians in society. Were there any founding fathers who especially rejected not just slavery, but racism in their time? Some people, like Benjamin Franklin and the Boston types, were much more opposed to the institution of slavery as a system. However, were there many who were explicitly not what we'd characterize today as white supremacists?

I'm not sure if Roger Williams counts as a founding father but he actually espoused inclusive human rights going so far as to say Native Americans were equal to white settlers.

# ¿ May 25, 2014 19:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Why should we care what the Founding Fathers wanted?