r: “The Founding Fathers: The Age of Realism” Personal Profile: The style in which Hofstadter writes I find to be very appealing. The fact that I understood what he was referring to when he mentioned that the Founding Fathers approach to trade was more “mercantilistic than Adam Smith”, indicating less of a capitalistic free economy, surprised me to the point where I felt I had actually learned something beforehand. In his approach Hofstadter refers to the framing of the Constitution in a much more cynical view then what is commonly taught. He presents both sides of the search for “democracy,” that for the masses, and that for the wealthy, and emphasizes the seeming aggrandizement in store for the Founding Fathers in the final settlement. Thus far, I seem to comprehend what I am reading, feeling it to be very much in an oratorical style. However, the depth in which the material is presented is something I am not familiar with. To site examples on the emotions that the Fathers were experiencing gives the matter a much more personal element. Madison’s sentiments toward government were revealed in the Federalist number 51: “You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” As it was then echoed by a dogmatic John Adams who stated, “democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself.” Such reflection was something I was unaware of. My conception of the shaping of the Constitution was much more optimistic than it actually was. An over generalization of liberty had shaped my perception of the process of republicanism, the presented evidence heralds an advantage to the upper classes, counteracting my long held belief that the Constitution was shaped with the people in mind. It is now more correct to say that it was not so much as having the people in mind, but more so, ...
