Today we carry our ongoing discussion of the contributions of Garry Wills from his work on the Declaration of Independence in his highly controversial Inventing America to his examination of the Federalist Papers and their role in the ratification of the Constitution, Explaining America. This book lays out the case for a new look at our accepted view of Hamilton and Madison as being highly divergent in their opinions of the proper role and apportioned powers of government. We tend to think of Hamilton as a proponent of strong central government, including a strong executive and judiciary to check the power of Congress, whereas Madison is seen as an advocate of generally opposite views. Wills argues in his book that at the time of the ratification of the Constitution, Hamilton and Madison's views were much more in line than became apparent by the 1790s. Dr Bill presents the case Wills lays out in favor of a view of much greater philosophical alignment between Hamilton and Madison than we tend to remember in the modern era. Midway in this discussion a listener calls in with some questions about concepts of unalienable rights and the nature of the social contract implicit in the Declaration of Independence, and Dr Bill resumes afterward with a preview of next week's planned discussion of a 6-hour speech by Hamilton on June 18 1787 that figures as one of the pivotal moments in American history. _________________________ Welcome to the Virtual Center for the Study of the Constitution! The Virtual Center programming, hosted by retired Concord University (WV) Beckley Campus President Dr Bill O'Brien, is available on the Head ON Radio Network (HORN) through the efforts of Bob Kincaid, Jon Fox, Ben Burch and the White Rose Society (www.whiterosesociety.org). Live show streams and information can be found at www.headonradionetwork.com and at www.prismwv.org. Recent years have seen repeated and increasingly brazen attempts to rewrite the history of the American Revolution and the foundation of the United States for modern political purposes. In this series of internet radio programming, Dr Bill explores the historical and philosophical underpinnings of American government, the events and the personages that combined, collided, and eventually resulted in the creation of government of, by, and for the people--and "all the rest of it."

• published: 24 Jul 2014
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