Subnostr

“a republic,” but only “if you can keep it.” The source of this quotation is a journal kept by James McHenry (1753-1816) while he was a Maryland delegate to the Constitutional Convention. On the page where McHenry records the events of the last day of the convention, September 18, 1787, he wrote: “A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy – A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.” Then McHenry added: “The Lady here alluded to was Mrs. Powel of Philada.” The journal is at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.

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Discussion

Marakesh 𓅦 1y ago

Even the Founders were opposed to democracy, but somehow Jefferson's party became called the "Democrats," or "Democratic-Republicans" (maybe we should call today's uniparty that), and was sometimes referred to as "the Democracy."

And today's Democrats seem to want to replace the idea of the US being a republic with the idea that it is a democracy, which is interesting given what Hoppe says about democracy's connection to communism...