Right Wing Watch discusses a scathing review by Gregg Frazer of a David Barton book, The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You’ve Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson.
RWW says Barton likes to call everyone he approves of a “Founding Father” and includes this passage from Frazer’s review:
This leads to one last area of concern in America’s Godly Heritage which can best be expressed as a question: Who counts as a “Founding Father?”
This issue reappears frequently in Barton’s works. He seems to count anyone of whom he approves who was living at the time of the Revolution, the founding of the political system under the Constitution, or within fifty or sixty years of those times as a “Founding Father.” For example, he says that “the American Tract Society was started by the Founding Fathers.” First, not one of those listed as a Tract Society founder signed the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. By what standard are they “Founding Fathers?” Furthermore, the Society was started in 1825 – 36 years after the Constitution was ratified. Madison was the last living framer an d he died in 1836. How many Founding Fathers were even alive in 1825? Similarly, in his discussion of Vidal v. Girard, he said it was decided in “the time of the Founders.” It was decided in 1844 –55 years after the Constitution went into effect and, a s was just mentioned, the last framer died in 1836! Barton refers to John Quincy Adams as a “Founding Father.” At the time of the Constitutional Convention, he was a 20 year-old just out of law school (he was 8 when the Declaration was signed) – by what standard is he a “Founding Father?” Barton also claims that the “Founding Fathers” established the New England Primer as a text, but the Founding Fathers did not establish any texts for schools – that was left to local communities to decide. Apparently, by Barton’s standards (whatever they are), local school boards were “Founding Fathers.” Finally, Barton says that the state constitutions indicate that the “Founding Fathers” wanted to be sure that Christians held public office. But the Founding Fathers, in Article VI of the Constitution, specifically disallowed any religious test for office. That would seem to be a strange and counterproductive prohibition to be put in place by those who want to ensure that Christians hold the various offices.
It’s almost funny, except that many people take Barton seriously. But it is quite funny to see such passion for the combination of founding and father. All the good things in one phrase and one kind of person! Daddies, and not just Daddies, but Daddies who Found things. And not just any things but THIS GREAT COUNTRY OF OURS.
It’s a kind of ancestor worship, only these are cultural ancestors.
I remember some idiot from Usenet days who was compiling a Compendium of Quotes from Great Americans, proving what a Christian Country y’all used to be. Pretty much any prominent figure from American history was fair game, thus he had pro-religion quotes from Mark Twain in there, oblivious to the context that made clear they were meant satirically, and that Twain was in no way an orthodox Christian. Even when it was pointed out to him.
I’m never so much reminded of the difference between Americans and Canadians as when I’m reading some blather about the Founding Fathers. I’m sure most Canadians couldn’t say much more about Confederation than “Charlottetown” and “Sir John A MacDonald.” Press them more and you might some mumbling about MacDonald and the Canadian Pacific Railway. Press any more and you’ll get the side-eye, because who gives a shit outside of social studies class?
Nonetheless, Barton’s obsession is borderline hilarious. Which of his Founding Fathers is most based, I wonder?
I read the review by Mr. (Dr.) Frazer and it was brutal. While, theologically and politically, I will disagree with Dr. Frazer, I would willing buy him a beer, wine, or non-alcoholic drink of his choice. I admire people who stand up for intellectual honesty. Intellectual honesty that is not possessed by David Barton. Once FB, I have “friends” that spread Mr. Barton’s crap that I have to counter with historical fact. Amazing how my “friends” mute or block me because I have the audacity, I mean the utter audacity, to post facts with citations to the historical documents.
Hell, if you can’t say it in a Heritage Minute, it’s not worth bothering about.
In Canada, there’s also the fact that there was no big war fought over the founding of it: all the battles were purely political, which makes it harder to seriously mythologize them. (The standard joke is that the U.S. was founded in a bloody war, while Canada was founded as a political compromise that satisfied nobody, and both countries have continued along those lines ever since.)
And then, well, our first Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald was an alcoholic, known for being drunk in Parliament, and somewhat infamous for throwing up on one of the other MPs in one session. He was also at least somewhat corrupt, forced to resigned in scandal in his first term as Prime Minister. (You can argue how much of the Pacific Scandal was actually corruption versus just and how much was just believing that it would be harder to get things done if he told people more than he did.) So not the sort of person that gets ‘cherry tree’ mythologies spread about him.
Granted, he was also exactly the sort of bull-headed ‘do what’s necessary and damn the (current) rules’ kind of person required to get things done. It’s just that such people can be very dangerous depending on what direction they’re pointed in.
Barton is an historian with no concept of history or time. It figures.
*snorfgiggle*
The one whose head would look best ‘shopped atop a pic of Jesus, obviously. Um…Madison?
“He seems to count anyone of whom he approves who was living at the time of the Revolution, the founding of the political system under the Constitution, or within fifty or sixty years of those times as a “Founding Father.” ”
Well, any man. No doubt he would sneer at talk of Founding Mothers – not like Sybil Ludington, Mercy Otis Warren, Deborah Sampson. etc ever contributed anything to the founding of the United States.
ArtK @6
This is a perfect example of an oxymoron.
If Barton is as much a historian as Hoff Sommers is a feminist.
So the United States of America is actually a Dad Joke™? Not surprised at all 😉
…and Florida is the penis joke. Or something like that.