Thomas Jefferson, born this week (April 13) in 1743, is — deservedly so — in the pantheon of American heroes.  His Declaration of Independence is the greatest “Mission Statement” ever penned and is one of the three documents on which our nation is founded.  He also brilliantly engineered the Louisiana Purchase, paying just $15 million — about three cents an acre — to acquire territory that doubled America’s size.  And, finally, he led the movement to protect religious freedom for all citizens.

But Jefferson was also — how to put this? — occasionally nuts, and two examples illustrate the point.  In the first example it was his good friend (my hero) James Madison who parried his impractical theory.  In the second it was his good friend John Adams who punctured a hole in his unconscionable theoretical balloon.

In September of 1787 Jefferson wrote to Madison to say that, after much reflection, he had concluded that “the earth belongs in usufruct to the living,” and therefore any laws passed or constitutions fashioned by one generation should have no power over succeeding generations. He added, “If it be enforced longer [than one generation] it is an act of force, not of right.”

Madison, who had just spent five months at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia creating a constitution, was — we can suppose — stunned.  But by nature conciliatory, and well acquainted with his friend Jefferson’s often odd theories, Madison was gentle in his reply. He praised Jefferson for his “many interesting suggestions,” but countered that constitutions needed permanence in order to earn the reverence necessary to be accepted, and obeyed, by the people.  As for passing laws and then scrapping them every generation for new laws, that would essentially result in a lawless society.

Wisely, both Jefferson and Madison let the matter drop.

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When the Constitution was signed in September of 1787 and sent to the Congress that then existed under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was instructed to send that Constitution to the states to be ratified … or not.  The message to the states was clear: Accept the Constitution or reject it, but don’t try to change it.

Several states, mostly small states, were quick to accept, in part because joining a larger union offered small states security, but also because, under the “Great Compromise” that occurred during the Constitutional Convention, every state, regardless of size and population, had equal representation in the Senate, which favored small states.  But the larger states had grave doubts, and even though Pennsylvania, a large state, quickly ratified, its pro-ratification Federalists essentially rammed the Constitution down their opponents’ throats, causing unrest and later violent dissent.

And then Massachusetts, another large and important state, took up the ratification question.  Would its citizens accept or reject the Constitution?

Naturally, Massachusetts’ Federalists wanted to accept and the Anti-Federalists to reject, but a separate faction in Massachusetts wanted to pursue a middle path.  This faction saw many glaring “deficiencies” in the proposed Constitution, including some — such as giving the new government the power to tax the people directly — that they considered dangerous. But they also knew that this Constitution fixed many of the serious problems that existed in the weak, powerless Congress under the Articles.

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Tom Jefferson may have penned the most famous words in American history, but the most famous penmanship in American history belongs to John Hancock, who was born this week (Jan. 12) in 1737 in Quincy, Massachusetts.  As we all know, his signature on the Declaration of Independence is so large and prominent that it is the main contributor to his lasting fame, and has even ushered him into the lexicon of American slang. To most Americans, your signature and “your John Hancock” are one and the same.

The question is, why did Hancock write his signature so prominently?  And the answer goes to the heart of what he and his fellow members of the Second Continental Congress faced in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776 when rebellion against England under King George III was all but official.  To make it official, Tom Jefferson had drafted a document that declared “these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States.”  Now all that remained was for Hancock and the others to approve the document and sign it. That would put the 13 colonies they represented at war against the world’s mightiest military power.

Facing that mighty power would be a loosely allied band of about 3 million people with no army or navy to speak of, few weapons, fewer fortifications, no access to financial resources and no allies.  In short, their cause looked hopeless, and should it fail, the British could be expected to mercilessly seek out and capture these rebel leaders (at least those who survived the war), confiscate their property, imprison their families, and ship them back to England to be hanged for treason.

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