After the
Revolutionary War, the new Constitution of the United States was drafted by
fifty-five men who were mostly wealthy slave owners, lawyers, merchants,
bondholders, and men of property. Their guiding philosophy was that of
Alexander Hamilton, "All communities divide themselves into the few and
the many. The first are the rich and well-born, the other the mass of the
people. Give therefore to the first class a distinct permanent share in the
government."
The Constitution set
up a government that the rich could depend on to protect their property. The
phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," which appeared
in the Declaration of Independence, was dropped when the Constitution adopted,
and the new phrase, which became part of the Fifth Amendment and later the
Fourteenth Amendment, was "life, liberty, or property."
The great fortunes of
the first modern millionaires depended on the generosity of governments. In
British colonies of North America, how did certain men obtain millions of acres
of land? Certainly not by their own hard work, but by government grants.
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