Yes to above. Americans have a real problem with this "both sides' situation. Apart from the simplification - there are more than two sides, those sides aren't Republican and Democrat, as they are one of the sides. They are both on the right-wing. The sides aren't as people claim, Republican Party/Right and Democratic Party/Left. This is itself a simplification as the Democratic Party is both on the same side (the corporationist aspect), and also one of the groups opposing the Republicans and their allies.
It is corporatism/evangelism/right-wing in an unholy alliance as one side, opposed by multi-sided many much weaker groups.
The two sides thing is at its core an attempt to obscure the role of many, many, diverse and often conflicted constituencies that make up the actual American population. No one who has ever found themselved targeted by this government - that is, most of us - really has a Party. The Parties are selected, run, and controlled by a tiny aristocratic minority class that has little interest or even need to know about the daily lives of most Americans.
That is basically what the founders wanted, although we have had times when it seemed or we were headed in a better direction. I probably posted this before, but when the founders said that all men were created equal, what they really meant was that all wealthy white men were created equal. They never included women, poor white men, aka poor white trash as labeled by the British, or minorities, including the Native tribes that were here long before the wealthy white men took over.
There have been many times when we started to head in a better direction, but with each step forward, we sadly took steps backward, but nothing has been as horrible was what we are living through now, unless you can back to the days prior tot he Civil War. Anyway, I'm sure you all know that.
Our founders were a diverse group in their own way. Some were genuine humanitarians, deeply convinced of universal human equality and potential. Others had no interest in philosophy or morality, and wanted Britain out of their affairs for purely commercial and pragmatic reasons. The former party was victorious in including some humanist language in the Constitution, and in arguing for a system of regulated amendation to define the rights of the citizen and interaction. They failed on almost all points of actual policy, and it wasn't until after the Civil War that the 14th amendment clarified what should always have been obvious: that laws mean nothing if they do not apply equally to all citizens.
Even that promise has yet to be altogether fulfilled. Slavery has never been fully abolished. The US still holds colonial properties, to which it refuses to extend full citizenship or even a reasonable level of care. The poor are not guaranteed fair treatment in the legal system. Our history education conceals more from our students than it reveals to them, as a rule.
Fortunately, there are many who would like those things to change, and in every American generation there have been small, dedicated factions still pressing the government to make the promises of the Constitution. Unfortunately, we are currently losing. To a historic degree.
Which of the founders was a true humanitarian. I've looked up which ones didn't own slaves and couldn't find any. Sure, many of not most of them gave excuses for why they owned slaves, like the economy is based on slavery or we must give the state's rights to own slaves. I've read at ;east a few books that leave me believing the founders were hypocrites. Some put in their wills that the slaves would be freed upon their death. Some supposedly had good relationships with their slaves. Imo, that doesn't make a single one of them a humanitarian.
All of them were against giving women equal rights. And, there is that book called "Poor White Trash" that explains how the British tried to get rid of all the poor white lower classes by sending them to America where most of them ended up as indentured servants. Oh wait. I just remembered another book, by Ellie Mystal, "Allow me to Retort, A Black guy's Guide to the Constitution".
Of course, these things are or were never taught to us in public school. For that matter, Columbus was considered a great hero in NJ when I was a child. We were told so many lies or false beliefs.
I don't care if the economy was based on slavery. It was disgusting to enslave people. Why couldn't they give them jobs with pay, decent food and housing etc, instead of hoarding the money for themselves and sometimes treating their enslaved people in brutal ways. I'm sure you've read the narrative of Frederick Douglas, a brilliant former slave who taught himself how to read etc. He gave details of what it was like to be a slave. Sorry, but based on my reading, the founders were not humanitarians, but if you can provide some examples of those who were, I'm listening.
Heather Cox Richardson does a great job of telling us what the origins of the country were really about. Based on her expertise, I've come to believe that the founders were always about making this country for the rich white elitists at the expense of other groups. There are some nice worded things in the constitution but it seems to be that a lot of it was bullshit. If it was meant sincerely, women, the poor, and minorities would all have been given equal rights from day one. Now, we're heading back to those days.
But, I digress. Then again, we do seem to have a problem staying on topic lately.
