Would the Founding Fathers recognize the United States today? Does it matter?

by a former Special Forces Officer

“The eyes of the Founding Fathers are upon us.” If they’re watching, they’re probably rolling over in their graves.

-Sen. Chuck Schumer

Would the Founding Fathers recognize the United States today?

With recent political events in this country, one might concur with Senator Schumer’s assessment, that the Founding Father’s certainly would not recognize today’s political landscape and would probably be rolling over in their graves at what some deem as an assault on the essence of our democracy. But is that true or just hyperbole?

The Founding Fathers certainly did not foster any illusion of what the United States would look like politically two centuries into the future, vice to say, that they would likely believe the nation would still adhere to the core principles upon which it was founded.

To use a metaphor, predicting the future politics of America, or any future for that matter, is like walking backwards. One can clearly see the direction from which one has come, seeing the past. One can see the present situation before them, and to some degree, one can see a bit of the future, through the periphery of one’s vision. But what lies ahead in the future… remains largely unknown.

I would say when charting the political course of the nation, the Founding Fathers approached their future vision of the United States in a similar vain. They recognized that as they “backed” into the future, it would be impossible to predict with certainty a particular course or direction. They had a clear view of the past, drawn upon the political lessons of other countries. The Founding Fathers had some idea of what lay ahead, but no clear idea of the future.

What the Founding Fathers could rely on, however, were the guiding principles upon which the Constitution was founded. Those principles would serve as a beacon, helping to orient the Nation as it progressed into an unknown future.

This approach was reflected with the drafting of the Constitution, providing a foundation for future generations of Americans. Their efforts were deliberate; the Founding Fathers needed time to construct the framework of the Constitution. It took 11 years of hard work after the Revolutionary War to finally produce a document the 13 colonies would sign. It was messy work, but vital for the creation of the roadmap upon which the nation would proceed.

In it they built flexibility and intentional ambiguity, enough agreement to allow it to be ratified without compromising the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Founding Fathers recognized that there were inherent challenges to the nation, blurry glimpses of the future observed on the periphery, that would eventually require addressing (the issue of slavery for example) but through the genius of the document, litheness built into it allowed the nation to back into the future, bending at times, but not falling or collapsing.

I would say that the Founding Fathers would hardly recognize the United States of America today. The Founding Fathers would find a Nation they could scarcely imagine at inception, with its immense wealth, geographic dimensions, international power, its diversity, and culture. In spite of the vastly different country of their time, the Founding Fathers would still recognize the underlying principles upon which the nation was founded and for that they would be justifiably proud.

Political events today may question that validity of that claim but I believe the Founding Fathers today would see that the time and effort invested in the Constitution allowed for the creation of a truly unique nation, a primus inter pares, among the great nations of history. A nation that, in spite of challenges and shortcomings, remains true to the intent of its founders.

Does it matter? It matters only that we Americans demonstrate that we remain true to the spirit and conviction of the ideals, principles and values set forth by the Founding Fathers. As long as we continue to “support and defend the Constitution” against all enemies, foreign and domestic, the Founding Fathers can rest peacefully in their graves.

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As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.