Part One, American Government and U.S. Constitution

Lesson 14: Principle 13 -Protection Against Human Frailty

Name: _______________________

Part II: The Founders' Basic Principles –	28 Great Ideas that Changed the World

Lesson 14 Time: 27:04 [for Sunday May 25, 2014]

The 5000 Year Leap: 12th Principle: Reading Assignment:
Protection Against Human Frailty (pages 163-67);

Lesson objectives: As a result of this lesson, the student should be able to discuss the following questions/topics:

A note not in the textbook from a former senator to understand current day thinking:

•	Senator Joseph Clark of PA [1901-1990, office 1957-1969, only Unitarian Universalist elected in modern era]

-	"We have inherited from our forefathers a governmental structure which so divides power that effective dealing with economic problems is cumbersome.... Of course, inaction is what the Founding Fathers intended – inaction until such time as overwhelming consensus was prepared for action ....

-	"They were right in their day. But they are wrong in ours. I have no hesitation in stating my deep conviction that the legislatures of America, local, state, and national are presently the greatest menace to the successful operation of the democratic process.... The executive should be strengthened at the expense of the legislature....

Surely we have reached the point where we can say that Jefferson was wrong: that government is not best which governs least."

•	Senator William Fullbright of AR

-	"The President is hobbled in his task of leading the American people to consensus and concerted action by the restrictions of power imposed upon him by a constitutional system designed for an 18th century agrarian society far removed from the centers of world power.

-	"He (the President) alone, among elected officials can rise from parochialism and private pressures.

-	"He alone, in his role as teacher and moral leader can hope to overcome the excesses and inadequacies of a public opinion that is all too often ignorant of the needs, the dangers, and the opportunities of our foreign relations.

"It is imperative that we break out of the intellectual confines of cherished and traditional beliefs and open our minds to the possibility that basic changes in our system may be essential to meet the requirement of the twentieth century."

Study guide questions:

1. According to Alexander Hamilton, what is the greatest danger to the people's rights? (pages

163-64)

Who Did the Founders Trust?

•	people not leaders (quote P.164– Hamilton)

2. Describe Thomas Jefferson's feelings about trusting our political leaders. (164)

•	free gov. is founded on jealousy not confidence

•	"... bind them down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."– Jefferson

3. George Washington said that government is neither reason nor eloquence. What did he call it? (165)

•	When could you have confidence in a leader?

•	government is force. (quote)

4. Describe James Madison's two-step approach to developing a good government. (165-66)

•	Government must control governed [first essential power it truly needs]

•	Government must control itself

5. Why will the Constitution never be obsolete or old-fashioned? (166)

The Genius of the Constitution

•	It controls something that never changes

-Human Nature

6. At what point should patriotic Americans sound the alarm over an erosion of our liberties?

(166-67)

•	Abuse occurs gradually (quote)

•	People must take action- (quote)

-on the first experiment on our liberties

[Any constitutional principle violation brought up in current legislation should receive immediate rejection irregardless of it's size, and it's relative or current importance.]