(Nov. 26) In the conservative spirit of William F. Buckley asserting that “ gratitude ” for our national blessings should be a year-round and lifelong attitude, not just an afterthought while eating turkey, please accept this day-after-Thanksgiving appreciation.
The thanks go to the group of people collectively known as the “founders” or “framers,” who have come under cultural assault from a wretchedly ungrateful political Left. The Left condemns them via bizarrely “woke” modern standards without crediting them for how far they moved human affairs — from where they found those affairs toward greater liberty and human rights.
Most in America know at least generally the identities and contributions of six founders and three of their wives, so just naming them here should suffice: George and Martha Washington, John and Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James and Dolley Madison, Ben Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton.
These other founders, though, in no particular order, also by right should remain household names.
Roger Sherman may be the most underappreciated founder considering his signal and seminal contributions. He signed the Continental Association making the colonies a unified trading entity, served on the five-man committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and signed the Articles of Confederation. And, as one of the most active members of the Constitutional Convention, he authored the compromise that created the Senate as we know it.
Robert Livingston joined Sherman, Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson on the committee that drafted the declaration, presided over Washington’s swearing-in as the first president, and led the team that negotiated the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the nation’s size.
Gouverneur Morris spoke more often than any other delegate to the Constitutional Convention, was a fierce advocate of religious liberty, created the Constitution’s famous preamble, and was the primary draftsman and stylist of the Constitution’s final form…. [The full column is at this link.]