IT IS POSSIBLE TO REVERE the founders too much. They had many flaws. They wrote a document that sought to ensure liberty while it institutionalized slavery. Excessive reverence for the founders also makes our debates lazy. We hold an opinion, search for the founder’s quote that affirms it, and wait for the applause from people who agree with us on Twitter. But a quote from the founders is not the last word. They couldn’t even agree with one another. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison fought over George Washington’s authority to declare the United States neutral in a war between Britain and
...more
