Part Two
American Stoicism: Self-governance and Religious Liberty
I am sure it will be asked who amongst our Founders would be the greatest champion of self-governance and religious liberty? And who likely would have been most likely to restrict it? While it is impossible to say with 100% accuracy due to the fact their views evolved over time and these were 18th century men, it is possible to make some educated guesses.
Thomas Jefferson is often considered the greatest champion of both self-governance and religious liberty. He was consistent in his stance on individual liberty and the individual’s right to govern himself. He was also the most vocal of the Founders regarding religious freedom of the individual.
Likewise, both John Adams and James Madison were supportive of self-governance and religious liberty. Adams believed in limited government and religious liberty, and was instrumental in the drafting of our Constitution. Madison was leading figure in the development of the Bill of Rights which includes the First Amendment protection of religious freedom.
With regard to restricting self-governance and religious liberty, please note it is not my intention to say that any of the Founders would have put, or would in today’s America, place tight government restrictions on these two core central values considered in defining a proper role of government in our society.
However, the two Founders I believe would have been most willing to compromise on self-governance and religious liberty are Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton. Both were pragmatic statesmen whose sole focus was building a strong and prosperous nation. In that sense, they may today have been most likely to concede to address urgent issues or to just avoid conflicts.
It is worth noting that Franklin and Hamilton had different perspectives and priorities regarding the foundation of our republic. Franklin was practical, able to find common ground with others, and likely would have compromised if he believed it was in the best interest of the nation.
Hamilton, on the other hand, was strongly committed to a centralized federal government. He may have been more willing than Franklin to compromise if these two were issues related to the role of the federal government and his goals and vision.
It is important in closing, to remember that our Founders were complex individuals with diverse beliefs in politics, the role of government, and in their religious beliefs. However, one can’t dispute their American Stoicism has blessed us with the greatest combination of self-governance and religious liberty the world has ever seen.
It is our duty for our generation and future generations to come to be American Stoics as were our Founders who stood on the bedrock of self-governance.
