How did the founding fathers stand up for ideas they believed in such as democracy?

Answer 1

They stood strongly together and focused on other democracys that have failed and also concentrated on their weaknesses pointing them out to the disbeleivers and trying to change those mistakes so the United States didn't fail.

Benjamen Franklin used his printing press and his developed writing skills to express and promote his ideas. He also belonged to the Junto - a group of friends who met, debated, discussed, and traded information.

Answer 2

As evidenced by the Federalists Papers, most of the founders wanted America to be a democracy. But, the fears of some, that democracy would turn into mob rule caused them to ultimately create a representative republic which, having some aspects of democracy, was the next best thing. And, the founders didn't intend for everyone to participate in governance, since only white property owners were then considered to be citizens. Democracy is a political system in which the true will of the majority of the governed becomes the supreme law of the land. This sounds great, until we realize it means that 51% of the population decides how the other 49% live. Thomas Jefferson, for one, detested democracy for this reason, because it invariably devolved into tyrannical rule and subjugation of individual freedoms of the few by the many. It also negates the concept of individual rights, replacing it with the slippery idea of government-supplied 'privileges' in favor of the "common good". The word 'democracy' is not mentioned anywhere in the Declaration of Independence or US Constitution. A constitutional republic, on the other hand, recognizes that rights are inalienable (i.e., they come from God and not Man) and thus cannot be revoked save by due process of law. For example, the US constitution did not create our rights but rather affirmed them. In a republic, the primary purpose of government is to protect the inalienable rights of life, liberty and property for its citizens. As elegant as these ideals were, the Founding Fathers were products of their generation. Women, children, and the landless had few if any rights. When they spoke of rights "for all men" they were referring to all, typically white European, land owners, aka 'free holders'. Several of the founders owned slaves, most famously Benjamin Franklin. Nevertheless, these men established an enlightened form of government whose powers were narrowly defined. Government was specifically limited to a handful of finite responsibilities. This was to prohibit those with power from immediately beginning to expand upon it and thus encroach on individual freedom. The Founders were so concerned that power would be usurped from the States (and by the extension, from the people themselves), that they drafted the first ten amendments (AKA Bill of Rights) to specify the unalterable rights never to be modified or limited by any future government of the Republic. Recent history will demonstrate whether this still holds true. Unfortunately, the gradual transformation of our nation from a constitutional republic to that of a simple majority democracy has led many Americans to believe it was "meant to be that way". This is no doubt why the Founders specifically required that the President swear a solemn oath "to protect and defend the constitution from all enemies, foreign or domestic." It was, and continues to be, the single most important responsibility of any US leader.

Answer 3

Some of them did. Others feared democracy would turn into "mob rule" (an impossiblity today because everyone wants the right to acheive the American Dream and keep it) confiscating their personal fortunes from them. So, their fears moved them to make America into a "representative republic" which was the next best thing since it had an aspect of democracy: the right to vote. But, that small original degree of democracy has now been reduced to the practice of "negative voting." This is when you vote "for" an undesirable candidate in order to register a negative vote "against" an opposing candidate who you deem even less desirable. This is why most election results are so close today.

Answer 4

The Founding Fathers did not like democracy in the least, they equated it to mob rule. stating that if any majority of the people gathered, that all minorities would instantly loose and be at the mercy of the masses. say the country was 80 percent of the the country was whites, and 20 percent was an ethnic group that clearly is not as large. the founding fathers put into action several checks and balances into government to try and deter and stop the country from changing from a republic to a democracy. it is true however that we hold a representative democracy, but still the people rule over all. it's still mob rule, even though direct democracy is sure to be worse on many reasons, including the massive size of the country.

". . . [D]emocracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would at the same time be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions."

-The Federalist Papers. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay ed. by Clinton Rossiter ( New York: New American Library. )

Answer 5

yes