Jefferson and the Constitution

I like Thomas Jefferson. A lot. He was by no means infallible, but he is one of my favorite founding fathers to read.  Despite some of his serious flaws (especially on slavery), his thoughts on government are worth the read.

I am one of those folks who do not place the Constitution of the United States on the level of Holy Writ. This understated view of the Constitution seems to fly in the face of current day political views - especially those on right wing of the political spectrum.  The US Constitution, in my opinion, is merely a document prepared by some men who were admittedly wonderfully gifted, but were not sent from God on high as some may want us to believe.

So in this vein, I'd like to share a letter Jefferson wrote regarding what he believes to be limitations of such a document as US Constitution. This letter written to Samuel Kercheval - a fellow Virginian - is worth the read.

Here are some highlights from the letter:

"...Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the arc of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment….

...Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors….

...Each generation is as independent as the one preceding, as that was of all which had gone before. It has then, like them, a right to choose for itself the form of government it believes most promotive of its own happiness."