Jefferson: When we err, hasten to return to the right path
Michael Warren
![Michael Warren]()
Michael Warren
Hall of Fame Judge; co-Founder, Patriot Week; Constitutional Law Professor; Host and Producer at Patriot Lessons: American History & Civics Podcast; Business Court Judge
"and should we wander from [the essential principles of our government] in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety." Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801.
For those of us who are fervent fans of the Founding Fathers and Mothers, we tend to idealize them overlook their imperfections. {Of course, there is whole other segment of society that demonizes them entirely} The reality is that they were human beings, with human flaws, both personal and public. Jefferson understood that the passions of the day might make fallible humans lurch into poor policy and even violation the unalienable rights of the people. But he also added that we could return to our founding First Principles when we come to our senses. This advice is as important today as it was in 1801.
For more, visit Patriot Week and America's Survival Guide
Proprietor/Entrepreneur at Alun Hughes Film Music & Nostalgia Wrexham
7 年Just a shame that Jefferson himself was unable to follow this advice. His receptivity to the ideas of the French Revolution juxtaposed badly with his response to the abolition of Slavery during the late Gironde, early Jacobin era. He had already revealed his inclination towards supporting the Plantocratic Royalists of Saint Domingue against both France and the black rebels and this led him into a complex series of twists and turns all designed to support those who were prepared to perpetuate Slavery on the island. Hardly a good example of upholding Founding principles because his Founding principles were always refracted through the prism of Slaveholder expediency