Do Ideas and the Founding Matter? (Hint: Yes)

Each year, my students spend a great deal of time dissecting the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers, analyzing the words that shaped a nation. We discuss liberty, equality, and self-government—ideals that remain at the heart of American identity. But we also confront a difficult reality: these ideals were not applied universally. The same generation that proclaimed “all men are created equal” upheld a system of slavery and denied political rights to women and many others.

This contradiction raises an important question: if the founding ideals did not apply to everyone at the time, why do they still matter? The answer lies in the power of ideas themselves—ideas that, once established for some, could not be contained.

Historian Bernard Bailyn described the American Revolution as unleashing a “contagion of liberty.” The ideas of self-rule, individual rights, and the consent of the governed did not remain static. They spread, challenging injustices and inspiring movements for freedom and equality in ways the Founders themselves may not have anticipated. Once Americans articulated their grievances in terms of natural rights and self-government, other groups—including enslaved people, women, and lower-class citizens—began applying these principles to their own struggles. The Revolution thus unintentionally sowed the seeds for broader debates about democracy, equality, and human rights.

Take, for example, the Declaration of Independence. When Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal,” he was drawing on Enlightenment philosophy, particularly the works of John Locke. But in practice, Jefferson and his contemporaries did not extend that principle to enslaved people, women, or Indigenous peoples. Yet, from the very beginning, others saw the revolutionary potential in those words. Enslaved people such as Quock Walker and Elizabeth Freeman petitioned for their freedom, arguing that their natural rights were being denied. Abigail Adams famously urged her husband to “remember the ladies,” warning that women would not tolerate being excluded from the new republic.

The contradiction between America’s ideals and its realities did not nullify those ideals. Instead, it made them a source of struggle and debate for generations. The Declaration and Constitution became tools that future movements used to demand change. Frederick Douglass, in his famous speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” did not reject the Declaration—he called on the nation to live up to it. The women’s suffrage movement framed their cause as an extension of the revolution, even modeling the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments after Jefferson’s document.

The revolutionary generation may not have imagined that their words would fuel abolitionist arguments, women’s rights activism, or the civil rights movement, but that is exactly what happened. The principles of liberty and equality—so imperfectly realized at the founding—became the foundation for progress.

Consider the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, passed after the Civil War. These amendments abolished slavery, guaranteed equal protection under the law, and sought to secure voting rights for black Americans. They extended the logic of the Declaration of Independence, applying its promises to a broader group of people. The same was true of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which sought to dismantle racial segregation and discrimination.

Each of these moments in history demonstrates that ideas matter. The principles articulated at the founding did not stay locked in the 18th century. They were invoked, debated, and expanded upon by those seeking to make America a more just and inclusive society.

So, why should high school students—why should any of us—care about debates from the 18th century? Because the work of applying America’s founding ideals is ongoing. We still wrestle with questions of liberty and equality. Who gets to participate in democracy? How do we balance individual rights with the common good? What does justice require of us?

Understanding the founding in all its complexity—both its promise and its failings—equips us to engage in these conversations today. It reminds us that the American experiment is not finished, and that we, too, have a role to play in shaping its future.

When we read the words of the Declaration or the Constitution, we are not just studying old documents. We are engaging with a living tradition, one that continues to challenge and inspire. Bernard Bailyn was right: the contagion of liberty, once unleashed, cannot be contained. It spreads, generation by generation, calling on each of us to decide what we will do with it.

With compliments,

Keith