The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

CLARENCE B. CARSONTHEFOUNDINGOFTHEAMERICANREPUBLIC16Making theConstitution... I feel it a duty to expressmy profound and solemn conviction... that there never was anassembly of men charged with agreat and arduous trust, who weremore pure in their mot,ives ormore exclusively or anxiously devotedto the obiect committed tothem to ... best secure the permanentlib erty and happiness oftheir country. - James MadisonIt is too probable that no planwe propose will be adopted. Perhapsanother dreadful conflict isto be sustained. If to please thepeople, we offer what Iwe ourselvesdisapprove, how can we afterwardsdefend our work? Let us r(J)ise astandard to which the wise andhonest can repair. The event is inthe hand of God.- George WashingtonEVEN THOUGH this was an era studdedwith felicitously worded documentsand momentous pronouncements,all of these pale beside theConstitution of 1787 - the UnitedStates Constitution. It standsalone among them in the impactit has had, in its imitability, andin the role it has had in the livesof generations that were then yetto come.Dr. Carson recently joined the faculty ofHillsdale College in Michigan as Chairmanof the Department of History. He is a notedlecturer and author, his latest book entitledThrottling the Railroads.684