Thoughts from our Founding Fathers (a prequel)

"The Founding Fathers were considered traitors by the King of England."

Justice Nahmias of the Supreme Court of Georgia reminded us of this fact last Friday at the State Bar Leadership Institute.

This statement may seem obvious to us today, considering we Americans view England as our former tyrannical government across the Atlantic.  I'm not sure how much of this reminder really sinks in as a result.  When our country today was but a few colonies run by the King, the very notion that England was unfair and needed to be removed from power (at least over us) was indeed risky and could have gotten a man hanged.  We should remember that the founding of the United States was based upon escaping oppressive government while safeguarding against it in the newly formed body.  So it should be no surprise that the Bill of Rights was crafted to limit the new government's power over the individual.

I could go on plenty about how this manifests in various amendments, but that is not the point.  We must remember that our first leaders were willing to step into the line of fire to do what they felt was right.  The purpose of Justice Nahmias' engagement last week, as well as the whole of the program, was to prepare leaders.  In order to lead, we must be willing to take the risky or unpopular position to do what is right.

I think it's important to remember that when talking about the Constitution.  Yes, our Founding Fathers were traitors to the Crown, and we should all thank them for it.

JD

John D. Duncan is president of J.D. Duncan, PC, founding partner of Prater, Duncan & Craig, LLC in Newnan, Georgia, and is Esquire by Day.  You can find him at www.jdduncanlaw.com, or follow him on twitter and Facebook.