This has been bothering me from a debate last week, and I never saw any talk about it. Members of the audience got to ask questions, and one guy asked Gingrich something like "The founding fathers were opposed to a national bank, thus no Federal Reserve. Who has a better grasp of what's best for our country: you or the founding fathers?" Gingrich made some comment about how he's a historian, and he knows the founding fathers know best, which is why he wants to reduce the Federal Reserve.
But.. one of the major points of disagreement amongst the founders was this very topic. The main supporters of a national bank were Washington, Adams, and Hamilton, and Washington created one. Jefferson and Madison were the main ones opposing it, but after getting elected President they ended up supporting it. So they were conflicted on the topic of a national bank, but if anything it'd be more accurate to say they mostly favored it in the end. Did Gingrich not know that? I assume he did; but why would he pretend the guy was right?
This is just one example of the weird misconceptions that are so common about the founding fathers.. acting like they were infallible mouth-pieces of God who agreed on everything and were divinely inspired to write the inerrant Constitution. In reality, they were not one thing; they were individuals who disagreed on interpreting the Constitution and on what should even be in there in the first place. It's usually meaningless to say "the founding fathers wanted ...". And if you're going to treat their beliefs like religious dogma, at least know what they really believed.
But even if they did all oppose a national bank, that guy's question is still extremely frustrating because of its implication that it'd be so unacceptable to disagree with the founding fathers who must know what's best. I'd like to know his opinion on slavery.
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