How did the Founding Fathers want Americans to behave?
A journalist tries to figure out what it means to “live constitutionally”
Should the constitution be interpreted as it was understood at ratification in 1788? Just a few decades old, the theory of “originalism” is in vogue on America’s conservative Supreme Court, influencing rulings on abortion, gun rights, environmental regulation and the separation of church and state. A.J. Jacobs, an editor-at-large for Esquire magazine, decided to live as the Founding Fathers supposedly wanted Americans to. For a year he would “walk the walk and talk the talk and eat the mutton and read the Cicero”.
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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Originalist to the core”
Culture May 18th 2024
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