The Founders’ View of Human Nature

The delegates who met in Philadelphia were familiar with world history and this, as well as their own experiences as British subjects, influenced their views of human nature, which was reflected in their views of power in government. Reading the speeches and correspondence of the framers and their contemporaries, or of the 17^th and 18^th century philosophers, and their references to historical figures reveals a clear mindset about human nature and power.

Plutarch

"There is no stronger test of a man's character than power and authority, exciting as they do every passion and discovering every latent vice."

- Plutarch, 46-120 A.D.

John Locke

"For he that thinks absolute power purifies men's blood and corrects the basis of human nature need read but the history of this, or any age, to be convinced to the contrary."

- John Locke, 1690

Thomas Hobbes

"I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death."

- Thomas Hobbes, 1651

Baron Charles Montesquieu

"Constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it and to carry authority as far as it will go."

- Baron Charles Montesquieu, 1748

William Pitt, British Prime Minister

"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it."

- William Pitt, British Prime Minister, 1770

George Washington

"Government is not reason and it is not eloquence. It is force! Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."

- George Washington

Thomas Jefferson

"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."

- Thomas Jefferson

John Adams

"Power always thinks... that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws."

- John Adams

James Madison

"The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse."

- James Madison

As you have heard, the writers of the Constitution shared a common view of power. They were conflicted. Power was a dangerous thing, but it was understood that any government must have authority to carry out its decisions. As James Madison put it, "In framing a government to be instituted by men among men, the great difficulty lies in this; we must first enable the government to control the governed, and then oblige it to control itself." They would have to find a way to give government the authority it needed, yet still control the power.