The Founders on Civic Participation

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The Founders on Civic Participation
The Boston Tea Party December 16, 1773

• The Bill of Rights Institute
• Charlotte, NC
• September 30, 2008
• Artemus Ward
• Department of Political Science
• Northern Illinois University
• http//polisci.niu.edu/polisci/faculty/ward

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U.S. Constitution Preamble

• We the People of the United States, in Order to
  form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
  insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
  common defence, promote the general Welfare, and
  secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and
  our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
  Constitution for the United States of America.
• Does this sentence merely explain the meaning of
  the document or is there an ongoing, instructive
  component?

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Do the Framers Matter?
George Washington was sworn in as the nation's
first president on April 30, 1789, on the balcony
of Federal Hall in New York. The mural depicts
(from left to right) Robert R. Livingston,
chancellor of the state of New York,
administering the oath Secretary of the Senate
Samuel Otis holding the Bible George Washington,
with his hand upraised and Vice President John
Adams.

• We will discuss how some members of the founding
  generation thought about civic participation.
• What did they mean by education, voting,
  knowledge of current affairs, and public service?
• Can we apply their ideals to American society
  today?

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John Adams on Education

• Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue,
  diffused generally among the body of the people
  being necessary for the preservation of their
  rights and liberties and as these depend upon
  spreading the opportunities and advantages of
  education in various parts of the country, and
  among the different orders of the people, it
  shall be the duty of legislators and magistrates
  in all future periods of this commonwealth to
  cherish the interests of literature and the
  sciences. John Adams, The Constitution of the
  Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1779
• What did Adams mean by spreading the
  opportunities?

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Alexander Hamilton on Voting

• "A share in the sovereignty of the state, which
  is exercised by the citizens at large, in voting
  at elections is one of the most important rights
  of the subject, and in a republic ought to stand
  foremost in the estimation of the law." 
  --Alexander Hamilton, 1784 editorial as Phocion
• What did Hamilton mean by a share in the
  sovereignty of the state?

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Jefferson on Attention to Public Affairs

• "Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people,
  and keep alive their attention. If once they
  become inattentive to the public affairs, you and
  I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and
  governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to
  be the law of our general nature." - Thomas
  Jefferson to Edward Carrington, January 16, 1787
• What are the consequences to an inattentive
  public?
• How can the publics attention to public
  affairs be cultivated?

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James Wilson on Public Service

• "Need I infer, that it is the duty of every
  citizen to use his best and most unremitting
  endeavours for preserving it the Constitution
  pure, healthful, and vigorous? For the
  accomplishment of this great purpose, the
  exertions of no one citizen are unimportant. Let
  no one, therefore harbour, for a moment, the mean
  idea, that he is and can be of no value to his
  country let the contrary manly impression
  animate his soul. Every one can, at many times,
  perform, to the state, useful services and he,
  who steadily pursues the road of patriotism, has
  the most inviting prospect of being able, at some
  times, to perform eminent ones." James Wilson,
  Independence Day speech, July 4, 1788
• What useful services should citizens undertake?

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James Madison on Knowledge

• "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance and a
  people who mean to be their own governors must
  arm themselves with the power which knowledge
  gives." -- James Madison to W.T. Barry, August 4,
  1822
• How can the people arm themselves with
  knowledge?

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Conclusion

• The framers of the Constitution recognized that
  civic engagement was crucial for America.
• Do the American people take seriously their
  responsibility for education, voting, knowledge
  of current affairs, and public service?
• What can be done, either in the public or private
  sphere, to promote these responsibilities?