Given a chance to change our current system of government, the American Founders would:

  • follow the written words in the Constitution,
  • cut federal spending and reduce the public debt,
  • eliminate some forms of taxation,
  • rein in or abolish the Fed,
  • reduce the size of the military,
  • end foreign alliances and avoid foreign wars,
  • limit immigration,
  • reassert state control over state issues, and
  • preserve the Bill of Rights.

That’s the assessment Brion McClanahan puts forward in the new Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers. The bullet points above cover the highlights of a chapter titled “What the Founding Fathers Would Do” (a subject Richard Brookhiser also has addressed in a separate book).

Tar Heel readers might be especially interested in McClanahan’s assessment of a man dubbed one of 14 “Forgotten Founders”:

Nathaniel Macon was quite possibly the most important man in the history of the Tar Heel State, North Carolina. Jefferson called him the “last of the Romans” ? meaning a republican who favored limited government, frugality, and selfless service ? and Macon’s friend and ally, John Randolph of Roanoke, described him as the wisest man he ever knew. Most Americans have probably never heard of Macon. Modern history texts rarely mention him, if at all. He was everything that politically correct interpretations of American history try to avoid. Macon championed states’ rights, supported secession, denounced the Constitution, presided over a large tobacco plantation, served with distinction in the Revolution in defense of his state and region, and opposed every measure that tended to increase centralization and federal power. He lived a simple life, and though a genuine Southern aristocrat, was never pretentious. Macon was the personification of the Old South, and an American hero.?

If that assessment piques your interest in Nathaniel Macon, you can learn more through the work of N.C. History Project director Troy Kickler, who has studied Macon closely while pouring through his papers.

This link will guide you to Troy’s December 2008 presentation on Macon. Click play below for a brief synopsis of Troy’s thoughts about Macon.