the revolutionary and founding generations, with their unusually intense obsession with their own individual rights, ensured that the question of individual rights and how best to protect them would be the central issue of American politics and society for the rest of the life of the republic. Future generations of Americans would have to grapple continually with the contradictions between the lofty promise and purpose of the founding, and the realities of American society, including the many racial, ethnic, and religious prejudices of its people.
