American Revolution Plutocaracy or Democracy in TOWARD AN AMERICAN REVOLUTION - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages He writes, "The reason for the Constitution was to empower people of property over common people. Indeed, our definition of self-government and freedom have become linked, if not equated, to the interests of the corporation." (ch. 3, 'A Great Compromise,' para. 4) It is a compelling book in the tradition of writers such as Howard Zinn and America's resident crank, Gore Vidal,(1) which should be read by every citizen in this country who thinks they know what the Constitution says, who wrote it and why.
The Framers of the Constitution, as Fresia points out, would have likely agreed with an IBM ad quoted in the book: "The Constitution is a political work of art . . . and . . . It's also the most important contract of your life." (Ch 1, 3 Obstacles, 1st para.) Almost every man attending and contributing to the Constitutional Convention was wealthy in land and humans, i.e. slaves. As property owners, 'better people,' these men relied on real and implied contracts to protect what they owned. A government that could not provide such protection would be no government at all.
to British entrepreneurs - Peers and Knights - the right to colonize and to make money from lands in the New World.(2) As Fresia makes clear throughout his book, this right to make money became a right to govern in the New World and eventually became justification for American landowners to sever ties with England and to create their own mercantile country.
What thes What these men of wealth and property wished to establish was a legal system, a government that protected their wealth. They did not wish to be subject to the whims of, as Rufus King put it, ". . . the poor and illiterate." (ch. 3, Ratification, end of 1st para). Indeed, James Madison, the 'Father of the Constitution,' wrote:
Landowners ought to have a share in the government,
to support these valuable interests, and to balance and
check the others. They ought to be so constituted as to
protect the minority of the opulent against the majority.
(Ch. 3, Checks & Balances, 2nd to last para.)
What has escaped many people in their understanding and reverence of The Constitution is that it is a document which was designed to secure the rights of the wealthy, the better people, while shutting out those without property or wealth. At the Convention of 1787, Alexander Hamilton put it succinctly when he said, "Give therefore to the first class [rich and well-born] a distinct, permanent share in the government. They will check the unsteadiness of the Second."(2) What he meant by Second was the masses or, as he once called them, "a great beast." (Ch 1, para 6)
Check the Balances
Of significant influence on the Constitution and the men who wrote it were the
political theories of British philosopher ...Download file to see next pagesRead More