Question

Charles beard's interpretation of the constitution

Answer 1

In 1913, Beard published his most influential book, An Economic Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. This book was pretty controversial. It upset a lot of people. Even today, it continues to be widely debated within academic circles.

Basically, Beard argued that the U.S. Constitution was adopted in order to protect the rights and interests of the wealthy, upper-class members of society. The 'Founding Fathers' were members of this upper-class group. See, most of our 'Founders' were wealthy land-owners. Think about Thomas Jefferson or George Washington, for example. Therefore, Beard was arguing that America's 'Founders' adopted the U.S. Constitution primarily out of economic self-interest.

In formulating this interpretation, Beard drew from the scholarship of another famous historian named Carl L. Becker. Becker had argued the American Revolution really consisted of two revolutions: one against Great Britain for independence and the other a conflict to decide who should rule in the absence of British authority. Beard took this idea and ran with it. Beard conceived the Constitution as stemming from a class conflict between wealthy landowners and common farmers.

We have to understand the impact of the American Revolution on class conflict. The American Revolution in its day was a pretty radical event. To a degree, it stripped power from the upper-class and distributed it among the lower-class. This was particularly true of Jeffersonian democracy. In the American Revolution and its aftermath, the common man had secured so much political power, that many members of the upper-class felt threatened. Beard thus regarded the U.S. Constitution as stemming from a counter-revolution in which the elite upper-class acted to to restore their power and thwart the masses from grasping too much influence.