You may not know who Roger Sherman was, but you need to know what he did and what he said. He was the only man willing to put his name on all four of America’s founding documents.
The Continental Association
The Declaration of Independence
The Articles of Confederation
And the U.S. Constitution
Because of what he did, you would think the name of Roger Sherman would be in every history book in every middle school in this country. However, what he said has pushed his name into the shadows of American history. So what could a simple shoemaker turned politician say that would cause those who write our history books to set his name aside?
He said the people of the United States should not be allowed to vote in federal elections. Standing in a room full of great men, who were toiling with the task of writing a constitution to protect their newly won freedoms, Sherman pointed out how easily corruptible they were. He reminded them that the citizens had never lived a self-governing life. They would have many questions about how the government worked, what the effects of certain laws might be and how to best deal with other countries. He reminded the men in that room, how easy it would be for them to go home and lie to the people, to trick their citizens into voting the way they wanted them to.
Sherman fully understood the danger of Fake News and he knew powerful men would one day use their political office and the power of the press to control the vote of American citizens. The protected rights of a free press and the freedom of every person to free speech were likely the only reason Sherman put his name on the fourth and final document that gave birth to this country.
Fake News was far from the only issue the founders struggled with. They discussed the dangers of an ever-growing government that would oppress the people. They knew the danger of letting politicians have the power of setting the value of money and then go home to ask for votes to keep their office. They understood the necessity of letting parents decide what was best for their children. Most of all, they fully understood the danger of an unarmed citizen.
Pick any headline in the news today and at the heart of that story is one of the issues our founders toiled over. Some today would have you believe the Constitution is old and outdated. Nothing could be further from the truth. It only appears outdated because we are not taught the truth about the fears of the men in that room. They feared this country might one day become what it is today.
If we had more schools willing to teach the true stories of the worries and the fears our founders had to deal with while creating this country, we might see more kids coming out of school loving this country and not wanting to tear to the ground. If we had been taught the truth in school, we would not have so much divided today.
