What would the Founding Fathers think of Barack Obama?

On the Fourth of July, our thoughts naturally turn to those words penned by Thomas Jefferson and first read aloud on the square behind Independence Hall in Philadelphia 232 years ago today:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

So what would Jefferson, a noted slave-owner, have thought about the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama?

For that answer ....

... we turn to Joseph J. Ellis, a professor at Mount Holyoke College, whose book “Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation” won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 2001.

His response: Not much.

“Jefferson believed that African Americans were inferior not just because of their socialization and nurture, if you will; he believed that they were biologically inferior,” Ellis says on “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” broadcast today on Bloomberg Television (7:30 p.m. Eastern, 4:30 p.m. Pacific).  “And that led to a kind of permanence to the stain that he imposed on them.”

Still, “the Jeffersonian principles that he crafted and made famous with his lyrical  language -- ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ -- there is no question that those principles are the heart of the American promise," Ellis says. "And in that sense, I think Obama’s candidacy is a fulfillment of Jeffersonian values -- no question about  it.”

Fellow Founding Father George Washington would have a more tolerant view, Ellis adds: “Washington was not burdened in the same way that Jefferson was by a belief in biological black inferiority. He thought that -- over time, that the African American slaves, once freed, would become equal citizens, and he believed that was entirely possible.”

And what about the equally historic candidacy of Hillary Clinton, who came so close to winning the Democratic presidential nomination? The colonies' First Feminist, Abigail Adams (wife of Founding Father John), would have approved, Ellis says.

“She wrote a letter in March of 1776 to John, clearly articulating her view that the values of the Revolution were incompatible with denying women rights, with what they call patriarchy, and so that -- she saw, clearly, that the values being propagated had implications for women and for gender,” he tells Hunt.  “ ... I think the idea of a woman -- in this case, Hillary -- actually making a very serious run for the presidency would have pleased her enormously.”

--Leslie Hoffecker

Comments

[mick]

And what about John Adams? Was he ahead of his time, or, as an early conservative, did he hold the same views? Would HE have championed a black man or a woman as President?

I realize that it's become popular, under the current administration, to bash the memory of Thomas Jefferson -- and the man was certainly not perfect -- but come on. THe strength of our democracy (if it has one) is that it has been able to grow and change.

[Damelady]

They'd think it's very cool.

http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/51903.html
How DNA is Rewriting History

[Bert]

Just ask John McCain. Wasn't he a Founding Father?

[BJ]

The Founding Fathers would say that Barack Obama should open a "manure-producing factory".

Everything that comes of out this man's mouth is just pure B.S.

[Missouri Rancher]

They would probably role over in their Grave!

[anon]

I'm pretty sure they'd say he's completely unqualified for the job, regardless of his ethnic background, and would be dismissed as a serious candidate out of hand. It's hard to believe that after literally stewing over Bush for eight years this is the best candidate the Democrats could nominate!

The only "change" we'll see if this minor Chicago Machine poltico wins will be the coins in our pockets after our wallets have been fully fleeced. He is a child of affirmative action and is thoroughly grounded in its destructive entitlement principles. His guiding princples are far left; believing in the state as the only salvation. My guess is that he recognizes that half government pie gets wasted by incompetence and bureaucracy, yet he is happy enough to control the dolling out of the other half.

Yet even a village idiot must recognize the Civil War has been over for 143 years; the Civil Rights Act for 44 years. My children freely associate with all other children; the lesson of slavery has already been learned and paid for a dozen times over with both blood and treasure. We have already spent over a trillion (1,000 billion dollars) towards that end with little difference in the black culture.

I can't help but that Obama's nomination is the direct result of people feeling disenfranchised by the existing system. Democratic control of California for decades can charitably be called a disaster. Yet come November watch the lot of our Congressmen, State Senators, and Assemblymen get re-elected without lifting a finger. We have no one to blame but ourselves for the current state of affairs.

No, an inexperienced lawyer supplanted into the role of redeemer is about as far fetched as they come. If elected, he may indeed be popular with many. Effective in the role? No way.

[Joseph Kupovlevski]

This article focussing purely on Obama's race. That doesn't surprise me. The fact is, the founding fathers would be more upset at Obama's fondness of a large central government. Putting the debate between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists aside, neither camp would have advocated the largeness of today's federal government. They would be appalled at both Obama and McCain and would wonder what went wrong with their beloved constitution. We're a far cry from the vision that was cast in 1787.

[D H]

Lest we forget the founding father's were not educated in today's terms.They were the first grassroots organization to unify the territories for a coomon good, and to end the tyrrany and opression that made life insufferable for the common man. Change was neccessary. Those who forget their history are doomed to repat it, oh, my mistake, I think we already in the midst of those same woes.

[sss]

They would not like it one bit. We could start off with his name, Barack Hussein Obama II. He is black. He has no experience. He wants to tax everybody and everything.