We tend to idolize Thomas Jefferson as one of the founders of this great nation but lest we forget, Jefferson was a member of the ruling class, an elitist who thought his kind should never let go of control.  The following is a telling quote made regarding public education.

By… [selecting] the youths of genius from among the classes of the poor, we hope to avail the State of those talents which nature has sown as liberally among the poor as the rich, but which perish without use if not sought for and cultivated.

--Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

Find a “Founding Father” who wasn’t an Egotistical, Wealthy, Self-Appointed “leader” who thought himself to be closer to God than those who actually worked for a living.

Tonya - 26 August 2008 04:29 PM

Find a “Founding Father” who wasn’t an Egotistical, Wealthy, Self-Appointed “leader” who thought himself to be closer to God than those who actually worked for a living.

Don’t know about the god part but you cannot judge 18th century men by twenty-first century standards.  Not sure ego is the right word.  In those days the average man on the street was a ruffian basically uncouth, unreliable and mean as hell when riled.  He could not be trusted to engineer a revolution.  If Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and such had not taken the lead we might very well be a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations.  They gave form and substance and by necessity had to kept the mob under control.

Wealth was a determinant of power.  These men were equivalent to English royalty and believed it was their rightful place to lead others. John Adams, for example, was a lawyer by training but he subsisted by farming. He certainly had no problem with physical labor. If the mini series was accurate and I think it was, even Mrs Adams toiled in the fields at times as did all the kids while still at home.

So, in other words, you can not name one.

Tonya - 26 August 2008 04:52 PM

So, in other words, you can not name one.

I did name one.  John Adams. I think you might include Samuel Adams for he was indeed the same man who’s name now graces bottles of beer. Alexander Hamilton served in the Continental Army.

These dead white guys were slave owners too!