Back to category: Politics

Limited version - please login or register to view the entire paper.

Evaluating Property & Property Rights in the Founding Era

In appraising much of the available literature on the subject of property and property rights, there are two related, common and elementary considerations missing. The first consideration is that most authors do not understand or accept the fact that the American founders differ, sometimes seriously, on a specific definition or concept of property rights. The second consideration, related to the first, is that most commentators on the American founding refuse to accept that it is virtually impossible to ascertain one, specific, monolithic understanding of property rights during this period. Though many of the American founders agreed (or more precisely, accepted) the opinions of their peers, there was wide disagreement as to the relationship between property rights and public policy, and even on so-called 'first principles'. I shall illustrate this point by selecting specific examples found in many of the authoritative works that treat this subject.


Gordon Wood: The Creation o...

Posted by: Jason Pinsky

Limited version - please login or register to view the entire paper.