Constitution Day
Happy Constitution Day!
–James Madison
–George Washington
–John Adams
–Alexander Hamilton
–Gouvernour Morris
–Patrick Henry
–Benjamin Franklin
–Thomas Jefferson
and others.
Category Archives: Thomas Jefferson
Of course you know that James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were both Virginians, and they were great friends. Madison asked Jefferson to send him some books as he was studying how to plan for a new government. Jefferson sent him two trunks of “literary cargo” from France where Jefferson was the Minister.
Jefferson helped and gave Madison several ideas on some re-modeling of Madison’s home at Montpelier, including some architectural tricks for his parlor. Jefferson designed and modeled a room at Monticello for James and Dolley to stay in when they visited, which they often did. Dolley served at hostess for Jefferson at many State Functions because Jefferson was a widower in the White House.
Thomas Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence should be given great attention in the United States today. As a lawyer, I consider the Declaration of Independence to be analogous to a new companies “Articles of Incorporation” or “Articles of Association” for an LLC.
Those are the documents that create a new company to be guided by the purposes described in such a document. The U.S. Constitution is analogous to the By-laws or Operating Agreement of the new company. They describe how is will be managed.
Who was Gouverneur Morris?
Was he a Governor of some State or Colony? What did he do that I should even know who he was?
No, that’s not a misspelling. That’s how he spelled his name—Gouverneur. And he pronounced it “Goo-ver-newer”.
No, he was not a Governor at the time. He was one of the important men attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1787. He was one of the important men, at that Convention, such as James Madison, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin.
We (my wife and I) were recently on a trip to Utah to see some old friends. We saw them and had great memories and tales to tell. On the way back I suggested we should go the other route home which would take us trough Monticello, Utah. They, the Utahns, pronounce the name of their city “mont a sell oh,” unlike Thomas Jefferson, who said he liked to pronounce the name of his home the Italian way: Mont a chell o.
Well, we decided because of time not to go that way. But some day I would like to visit that city and ask someone why they chose that different pronunciation.
Boy, that was an eye-opening account of “Legends and Lies” by Bill O’Reilly tonight. It was on TV. Pictured was the death of President George Washington, the election between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, which was decided in the House, and the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
As you will recall from your High School history class, Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in the duel. Scholars still debate whether or not Hamilton had purposely aimed high miss Burr or if he just got off a bad shot. I am inclined to believe the first.
The man known as “The Father of the Constitution”, James Madison, was huge in history, but he was small on the scene. His friends said he “was not much bigger than a half a bar of soap!” He said he was “about 5’6” while others have described him as 5’2” or thereabouts.
But all admit he was a scholar. Madison has been hailed as the prime creator of the U.S. Constitution, but he rejected such praise, saying: “You give me credit to which I have no claim, calling me THE writer of the Constitution of the U. S. This was not like the fabled Goddess of Wisdom, the offspring of a single brain. It ought to be regarded as the work of many heads and hands.”
Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin had several things in common. Not the least of which was how they faced an argument or a political debate.
Thomas Jefferson explained how he thought about his friends and fellow Founding Fathers this way: “I never heard either of them (George Washington and Benjamin Franklin) speak ten minutes at a time, nor to any but the main point . . .They laid their shoulders to the great points, knowing that the little ones would follow of themselves.”
Our American language has some strange words, or words with different meanings than you would expect. Jefferson was, of course, great with words. George Washington was trained in his youth to write well and use correct words. John Adams did so well with words that he told Abigail that he only accomplished good things with his exemplary use of language—words.
Just for the record, some words don’t seem to make sense any more because their original meaning has been lost. Album is a word that comes to mind. It was used to mean a vinyl record when record players were the vogue. Originally records which spun around the records player at 78 revolutions per minute (RPM), could only contain 4-5 minutes of recorded music.
George Washington, our first President, said this: “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”
Thomas Jefferson wrote: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
That’s where we get out freedoms from. Not from the government, but from God. But it’s a troublesome servant and a fearful master. We have to stay in charge, not give it away.