The Real American Founding: A Conversation

The political theory of the American Founding is based on the principle that no one is born with a right to rule another human being. This theory requires government to proceed by consent and to secure the rights of its citizens; and, it requires every citizen to fulfill his corresponding duties under the law of nature.

A free society requires a people united in their understanding of the  fundamental purpose of government and principles of justice. For the Founders this meant a political community committed to protecting everyone’s equal natural rights through laws that do not grant special exemptions or play favorites. 

Two new categories of rights predominate today that conflict with the natural rights of the Founding. The first is a right to positive goods like housing and healthcare; the second is a right to be honored, or at least not to be criticized. The former erodes the property rights of citizens, while the latter restricts freedom of speech. 

The Founders believed government has a duty to protect citizens against threats from fellow citizens through the enforcement of criminal and civil laws, from foreign nations through national defense, and from government itself through the constitutional arrangements and the due process of law. 

The Founders understood that republican government not only depended upon citizens who possess justice, moderation, and industry, but it also required some citizens to possess more assertive virtues like courage and prudence. They sought to develop a virtuous character in American citizens through criminal law enforcement, political speeches and ceremonies, education, and support for religion. 

The Founders viewed sex as a vital political topic because it generates children. In order to ensure children were raised well, they supported laws and customs that channeled this passion into stable, monogamous marriages that recognized the natural differences between the sexes. 

A just economic system, according to the Founding, protected the right of citizens to possess and acquire property. The Founders sought to secure this right through exclusive ownership of property by private citizens, the encouragement of free markets as far as is compatible with the rights and interests of citizens, and a stable standard of money. 

While important elements of the older American way of life still animate parts of the country, the Founders’ political theory has been abandoned today in several critical ways. Americans are no longer guaranteed equal protection of the laws, and the basic idea of consent has been undermined by an emerging oligarchic element that encourages division on the most important political questions.