Waubonsee Community College

America's founding and the struggle over economic inequality, Clement Fatovic

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-328) and index

index present

non fiction

America's founding and the struggle over economic inequality

bibliography

920843622

Clement Fatovic

Constitutional thinking

"If, as many allege, attacking the gap between rich and poor is a form of class warfare, then the struggle against income inequality is the longest running war in American history. To defenders of the status quo, who argue that the accumulation of wealth free of government intervention is an essential feature of the American way, this book offers a forceful answer. While many of those who oppose addressing economic inequality through public policy today do so in the name of freedom, Clement Fatovic demonstrates that concerns about freedom informed the Founding Fathers' arguments for public policy that tackled economic disparities. Where contemporary arguments against such government efforts conceptualize freedom in economic terms, however, those supporting public policies conducive to greater economic equality invoked a more participatory, republican, conception of freedom. As many of the Founders understood it, economic independence, which requires a wide if imperfect distribution of property, is a precondition of the political independence they so profoundly valued. Fatovic reveals a deep concern among the Founders--including Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and Noah Webster--about the impact of economic inequality on political freedom. America's Founding and the Struggle over Economic Inequality traces this concern through many important political debates in Congress and the broader polity that shaped the early Republic--debates over tax policies, public works, public welfare, and the debt from the Revolution. We see how Alexander Hamilton, so often characterized as a cold-hearted apologist for plutocrats, actually favored a more progressive system of taxation, along with various policies aimed at easing the economic hardship of specific groups. In Thomas Paine, frequently portrayed as an advocate of laissez-faire government, we find a champion of a comprehensive welfare state that would provide old-age pensions, public housing, and a host of other benefits as a matter of "right, not charity." Contrary to the picture drawn by so many of today's pundits and politicians, this book shows us how, for the first American statesmen, preventing or minimizing economic disparities was essential to the preservation of the new nation's freedom and practice of self-government"--, Provided by publisher"The causes of economic inequality and the problems growing inequality poses for our political system have been major concerns in America particularly since the Great Recession of 2008. This is not new to American politics; Clem Fatovic shows how economic inequality was a major concern of Americans at the founding of the republic. Now many say that economic inequality is simply the price we pay for freedom; in the late 18th century economic inequality was seen as a threat to freedom and to the democracy we were starting in the United States. This is a study of the dimensions of economic inequality in the early republic and the measures that were discussed and debated about how to deal with it"--, Provided by publisher

Foreword -- Preface and acknowledgments -- The American Revolution and the ideal of equality -- Class conflict and crisis under the Articles of Confederation -- The constitutional backlash against the "excesses of democracy" -- "Necessary and proper": Alexander Hamilton on the economic powers of the national government -- Constructing the Constitution: How the early Congresses understood their own powers and tackled economic hardship -- "Silently lessening the inequality of property": Thomas Jefferson on the government's role in reducing economic inequality -- "Not charity but a right": Thomas Paine on the justice of a welfare state -- Conclusion