bluemoonKY said:
In this article from City Journal, the writer Heather MacDonald states the following: "The American Founders drew on an astonishingly wide range of historical sources and an appropriately jaundiced view of human nature to craft the world's most stable and free republic. They invoked lessons learned from the Greek city-states, the Carolingian Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire in the Constitution's defense. And they assumed that the new nation's citizens would themselves be versed in history and political philosophy. "
Do you agree with this excerpt from Heather MacDonald's article? If so, what specific lessons did the American Founders invoke from the Greek city-states, the Carolingian Dynasty, and the Ottoman Empire in the Constitution's defense? What are your sources that support your assertions?
Here is a link to the article: http://m.us.wsj.com/article_email/SB...DQyWj?mobile=y
In order to answer the questions, or provide an informed analysis, one would have to be familiar with those who drafted and revised the US Constitution, or participated in the arguments, debates or deliberations of the Convention. It would also be helpful to know that state of a classical education in the 1700's.
Some insight into what influenced the authors of the Constitution may be found in their letters or writings, or in biographies.
Apparently in the article is the statement "The 14th-century Florentine poet Francesco Petrarch triggered the explosion of knowledge known today as Renaissance humanism with his discovery of Livy’s monumental history of Rome and the letters of Cicero, the Roman statesman whose orations, with their crystalline Latin style, would inspire such philosophers of republicanism as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson." So one may infer that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were aware, if not familiar, with Roman history, or perhaps Roman republicanism.
Regarding authorship of the Constitution, one may find
Q. Who actually wrote the Constitution?
A. In none of the relatively meager records of the Constitutional Convention is the literary authorship of any part of the Constitution definitely established. The deputies debated proposed plans until, on July 24, 1787, substantial agreement having been reached, a Committee of Detail was appointed, consisting of John Rutledge, of South Carolina; Edmund Randolph, of Virginia; Nathaniel Gorham, of Massachusetts; Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut; and James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, who on August 6 reported a draft which included a Preamble and twenty-three articles, embodying fifty-seven sections. Debate continued until September 8, when a new Committee of Style was named to revise the draft. This committee included William Samuel Johnson, of Connecticut; Alexander Hamilton, of New York; Gouverneur Morris, of Pennsylvania; James Madison, of Virginia; and Rufus King, of Massachusetts, and they reported the draft in approximately its final shape on September 12. The actual literary form is believed to be largely that of Morris, and the chief testimony for this is in the letters and papers of Madison, and Morris's claim. However, the document in reality was built slowly and laboriously, with not a piece of material included until it has been shaped and approved. The preamble was written by the Committee of Style.
Ref:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_q_and_a.html
Apparently James Madison was a principal author of the Constitution.
James Madison, Jr. . . . hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for being instrumental in the drafting of the United States Constitution and as the key champion and author of the United States Bill of Rights.
Madison became one of the leaders in the movement to ratify it. His collaboration with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay produced the Federalist Papers (1788).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison, which cites a biography of Madison "Ralph Ketcham, James Madison: A Biography, (1971)"
In the Wikipedia article on Madison, one will find some mention of his early life and education.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison#Early_life_and_education
Also from the National Archives:
Q. What state papers should be considered in connecting the Constitution of the United States with Magna Carta?
A. The Great Charter was confirmed several times by later medieval monarchs, and there were various statutes, such as those of Westminster, which also helped to develop the germs of popular government. The Petition of Right, 1628, against the abuse of the royal prerogative, the Habeas Corpus Act, 1679, and the Bill of Rights, 1689, to establish the claims of the Petition, are the great English documents of more modern times on popular freedom. Meanwhile, the colonial charters became the foundation of the Americans' claim to the "rights of Englishmen," and were the predecessors of the State Constitutions, which owed their origin to the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independence established the principles which the Constitution made practical. Plans for colonial union were proposed from time to time, the most important of them being the Albany Plan of 1754, of which Benjamin Franklin was the author. The united efforts to establish independence gave birth to the Articles of Confederation, which though inadequate, were a real step toward the "more perfect Union" of the Constitution.
Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, 1787
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_founding_fathers.html
In all, 55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention sessions, but only 39 actually signed the Constitution. The delegates ranged in age from Jonathan Dayton, aged 26, to Benjamin Franklin, aged 81, who was so infirm that he had to be carried to sessions in a sedan chair.
So there is quite a range of age, education and experience.
Individual Biographies of the Delegates to the Constitutional Convention
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/delegates/
It has often been remarked that in the journey of life, the young rely on energy to counteract the experience of the old. And vice versa. What makes this Constitutional Convention remarkable is that the delegates were both young and experienced. The average age of the delegates was 42 and four of the most influential delegates—Alexander Hamilton, Edmund Randolph, Gouvernor Morris, and James Madison—were in their thirties. Over half of the delegates graduated from College with nine from Princeton and six from British Universities. Even more significant was the continental political experience of the Framers: 8 signed the Declaration of Independence, 25 served in the Continental Congress, 15 helped draft the new State Constitutions between 1776 and 1780, and 40 served in the Confederation Congress between 1783 and 1787.
I've read in the past that several of the 'founding fathers' had an interest in Persian poetry and social, political and moral thought.
