Why The Founding Fathers Were Important To A Successful America?

What values did the founding generation believe were important to a successful America? If more Americans pondered this question, they would have a more clear understanding of why those brave men who came before us risked their blood, treasure and sacred honor to create the greatest nation on Earth. The Founding Fathers were a revolutionary group whose goal was American liberty. They believed in religious freedom in order for a successful America. They understood that the citizens should have a say in their government and that the government only gets its power from the consent of the governed (http://ourtp.org/blogs/blog/our-turning-point/personal-responsibility/2012/03/17/what-did-the-founding-fathers-want-for-america).

The founding fathers wanted American Liberty. In Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence, he condemned the injustice of the slave trade and also blamed the presence of enslaved Africans in North America on the British. Jefferson therefore acknowledged that slavery violated the natural rights of the enslaved, while at the same time he excused Americans of any responsibility for owning slaves themselves. The Continental Congress rejected the tortured logic of this passage by deleting it from the final document, but this decision also signaled the
Founders’ commitment to lessen the controversial issue of slavery to the larger goal of securing the unity and independence of the United States (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1269536/The-Founding-Fathers-and-Slavery). Even though the issue of slavery is often raised as a discredited charge against the Founding Fathers, the historical fact is that slavery was not the product of the Founding Fathers. Slavery had been introduced to America nearly two centuries before the Founders (http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=122).

The founding generation believed that the proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things. The founders feared a central government. The purpose of the Philadelphia convention of 1787 that produced the Constitution of 1789 was to create a central government that could actually govern the United States. It was a useful transfer of power from states to the central government (http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/the-founders-and-the-central-government/). The Declaration of Independence gives us important insight into the opinions of the Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson wrote that the power of the government is derived from the governed. Up until that time, kings ruled nations by the authority of God. The Declaration was a big difference from the idea that the power to rule over other people comes from god (http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html). It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls the government would be necessary (Independent Journal, Madison).

The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom is a statement about both freedom of conscience and the principle of separation of church and state. Written by Thomas Jefferson and passed by the Virginia General Assembly on January 16, 1786, it is the start of the first amendment protections for religious freedom (http://www.vahistorical.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/thomas-jefferson). The first paragraph of the religious statute proclaims one of those entitlements, freedom of thought. To Jefferson, "Nature 's God," who is undeniably visible in the workings of the universe, gives man the freedom to choose his religious beliefs (http://www.vahistorical.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/thomas-jefferson). "The constitutional freedom of religion is the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights." -Thomas Jefferson (http://famguardian.org/Subjects/Politics/ThomasJefferson/jeff1650.htm).

The founding generation clearly wanted a successful America. Their goal was to have American liberty and believed in freedom of religion in order to maintain a successful America. Also, they understood that the citizens should have a say in their government. "In our early struggles for liberty, religious freedom could not fail to become a primary object." --Thomas Jefferson (http://famguardian.org/Subjects/Politics/ThomasJefferson/jeff1650.htm).

Works Cited
"Our Turning Point." What did the Founding Fathers want for America?.
N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Jan. 2014. .
"The Founding Fathers and Slavery (Founding Fathers)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .
"WallBuilders - Issues and Articles - The Founding Fathers and Slavery." WallBuilders - Issues and Articles - The Founding Fathers and Slavery. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2014. .

"The Founders and the Central Government." Outside the Beltway. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2014. .

"Our Founding Fathers Were NOT Christians." Our Founding Fathers Were NOT Christians. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan.
2014.