Resolved: The US founding fathers were Socialist

The Delegates to the Constitutional Convention Signers of the Constitution Abraham Baldwin Richard Bassett Gunning Bedford, Jr. John Blair William Blount David Brearly Jacob Broom Pierce Butler Daniel Carroll George Clymer John Dickinson Jonathan Dayton William Few Thomas Fitzsimons Benjamin Franklin Nicholas Gilman Nathaniel Gorham Alexander Hamilton Jared Ingersoll William Jackson, Secretary (attesting) Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer William Samuel Johnson Rufus King John Langdon William Livingston James Madison James McHenry Thomas Mifflin Gouverneur Morris Robert Morris William Paterson Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Charles Pinckney George Read John Rutledge Roger Sherman Richard Dobbs Spaight George Washington (president of the Convention) Hugh Williamson James Wilson Delegates who left the Convention without signing William Richardson Davie Oliver Ellsworth William Houston William Houstoun John Lansing, Jr. Alexander Martin Luther Martin James McClurg John Francis Mercer William Pierce Caleb Strong George Wythe Robert Yates Convention delegates who refused to sign Elbridge Gerry George Mason Edmund Randolph ------------------------------------------------------------------------ James Madison was one of the most important founding fathers. He is the Father of both our Constitution, and the Bill of Rights; being the primary author of both, I will focus primarily on James Madison. In reference to a bill on subsidizing cod fishermen, introduced in the first year of the New Congress, James Madison said; "If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish and pay them out of their public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union; they may assume the provision of the poor; they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads; in short, everything, from the highest object of state legislation down to the most minute object of police, would be thrown under the power of Congress.... Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited Government established by the people of America." [1] Obviously James Madison was against Social Welfare. James Madison also said; "With respect to the words general welfare, I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators." [2] What is commonly referred to as the General Welfare clause is in Article 1, section, and reads; "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;" [3] This clause simply grants congress the power to tax, and restricts taxation to paying off the debts, and financially supporting the Military, and General Welfare. Thus General Welfare is used in a restrictive sense. Welfare Means; (n) wellbeing, well-being, welfare, upbeat, eudaemonia, eudaimonia (a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous) [4] General means; (adj) general (prevailing among and common to the general public) (adj) general (affecting the entire body) (adj) general (not specialized or limited to one class of things) [5] Thus General Welfare refers to the Common Good. Social Welfare (social referring to a redistributive policy), has a much different meaning; (n) social welfare, welfare, public assistance (governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need) [6] Another clause, which is often misrepresented is the Commerce clause in Article 1, section 8, which reads; "[The Congress as the Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;" [3] In a letter dated February 13, 1829, James Madison wrote; "It is very certain that [the commerce clause] grew out of the abuse of the power by the importing States in taxing the non-importing, and was intended as a negative and preventive provision against injustice among the States themselves, rather than as a power to be used for the positive purposes of the General Government." [7] James Madison also stated, in Federalist Paper no. 45; "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce." [8] Obviously the commerce clause was not meant to grant the Federal Government universal powers of regulation, but rather to allow the Federal Government to regulate commerce between states, and foreign nations; The role of the federal government is to handle international, and interstate affairs, the commerce clause is a reflection of this. On March 2, 1807, congress passed an act to "prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States ... from any foreign kingdom, place, or country", which took effect January 1, 1808 [9] This is a perfect example of the commerce clause, as it only dealt with international trade, and trade between states; it made no reference to the slave trade within a single state. It is good to note, that I do not consider people property, I am only using this as an example, because it's such a good example of the commerce clause. There is also another quote by James Madison, which completely conflicts with socialism. According to The records of the Federal Convention of 1787, James Madison said; "Landholders ought to have a share in the government to support these invaluable interests and check the other many. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority." [10] 1. http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca...2. http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca...3. http://www.usconstitution.net...4. http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu... 5. http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu...6. http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu...7. http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca...8. http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca...9. http://www.on-this-day.com...10. http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca...