What did the Founding Fathers intend? It is a question often posed in American politics, but is hard to answer. Those illustrious men of the 18th century disagreed on slavery and whether it should exist; on whether small states and large states should have the same representation; on whether slaves should be counted as part of their populations; on the distribution of powers between states and central government; on what to do about debt; and on the location of the US capital.
They muddled through their disagreements to a Declaration of Independence (1776), a Constitution (1789) and Bill of Rights (1791). That the constitution was subsequently amended mere months after its creation suggests that even the founders accepted theirs was not the last word.
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