A review by vhp
Written Out of History: The Forgotten Founders Who Fought Big Government by Mike Lee

4.0

The author writes about people in history you may have read about in a little blip in a history book or perhaps not at all.
Aaron Burr experienced some falsified slander (Wilkinson) and abuse of executive power via Thomas Jefferson.
Luther Martin was a brilliant mind, though rarely sober. I can only imagine how intelligent this man must have been while sober.
Mercy otis Warren was friends with John and Abigail Adams and wasn't afraid to cross John when he was crossing the line, so to speak. She believed in protecting the rights of individuals.
Canasatego and the Iroqois Confederation. Ben Franklin borrowed some wisdom from that.
Elbridge Gerry signed the preamble to the Declaration of Independence (1776), but refused to trust the Constitution because it didn't include a bill of rights.
Mum Bett was a slave, who sued her "master", after his wife, her original "owner" tried to abuse/strike Mum's sister. She won, but her "master" had appealed, but retracted and she was free. She changed her name.
James Otis was brother to Mercy and a catalyst for the fourth amendment, being concerned with the abuse of (British) custom officials breaking into someone's premises and rifle through his papers, etc.
George Mason was a defender of individual and economic freedom. If the rest of the founding fathers had listened to his intelligence, the civil war most likely never would have happened.
One, I didn't know the colonists had requested to abolish slavery, but the British parliament had denied this request.
Two, once the colony's had become independent, they should have abolished slavery. It's not as cut and dry as south bad, north good. But George Mason was a very insightful man.
Three, the U.S. education system is failing to teach students about civics and of course, because the more naive a citizen is, the more their rights can be taken away.
Four, I recommend this book.