When Nathaniel Macon Speaks... | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: The article below appeared in John Hood's daily column in his publication, the Carolina Journal, which, because of Author / Publisher Hood, is inextricably linked to the John Locke Foundation.

    RALEIGH     Over the years, I've become increasingly convinced that future gains in freedom and prosperity for North Carolina will only follow gains in appreciation of the past - of the people, events, and ideas that form our constitutional heritage.

    Naturally, to advance the cause, one must make pragmatic arguments, based on empirical evidence and sound reasoning, to convince policymakers and the general public of the wisdom of specific policies based on individual liberty and free enterprise. But whatever marginal improvements might be achieved that way - lower marginal tax rates, let's say, or regulatory reform - cannot be sustained over time unless our movement weaves specific policies into a coherent philosophy for governing the Tar Heel State.

    The starting point for such a philosophy must be grounded in our state and federal constitutions. These documents, while far from perfect, reflect the governing philosophy of a founding generation of leaders committed the revolutionary idea that individuals should not just have an occasional role in selecting others to govern them but should actually be allowed to govern themselves as much as possible: to decide for themselves how to think, work, worship, form families, and pursue happiness.

    Those leaders, of course, were far from perfect themselves. Many fell short of the very ideals they so eloquently described and defended in their speeches, letters, and founding documents. Once in office, some engaged in political cronyism and self-dealing. Others, having achieved freedom for themselves, denied it to others, most obviously by permitting the sin of slavery to persist and expand.

    Still, if it comes down to a choice between hypocrisy and no standards at all, I'll take hypocrisy. A government with clear constitutional limits, even if enforced only some of the time, is far superior to a government limited only by the ambitions of politicians or the fleeting whims of whoever happens to be in the majority at the time.

    Our strong belief in context and constitutional heritage as building blocks for a 21st century freedom movement has led the John Locke Foundation to invest significant time and resources to enhancing public knowledge of North Carolina history. You can see the results in our popular online encyclopedia and Dr. Troy Kickler's frequent articles and lectures. That belief also motivates me to recommend a new novel by Will Ferrell entitled The Secrets of Sterling Shearin: The Noblest Cause.

    Ferrell, a High Point dentist and teacher at Guilford Technical Community College, tells his rollicking story of life in North Carolina during the last two decades of the 18th century using the narrative device of diary entries by Sterling Shearin, a veteran of the Revolutionary War battle of Guilford Court House who farms, dreams, loves, and argues politics.

    Shearin was a real person. In fact, the author is descended from his brother, also a Guilford Court House veteran. But the diary entries, and much of the story they relate, are fictional. Sterling Shearin falls in love with a slave, marries once for companionship, marries again for love, and is suspected of murder. In keeping with the notion of reading a young man's personal diary, there are some very adult situations (this is not a book for children).

    Still, the framing device allows Ferrell to convey some important historical information about North Carolina's role in the framing of the United States Constitution. The novel's hero is a close confidante of Nathaniel Macon and a friend of Willie Jones, both key figures in North Carolina's Anti-Federalist movement. Shearin also has several encounters with leading Federalists such as William Richardson Davie and James Iredell. In-between tales of Shearin's farming travails and family tragedies - which are effective on their own terms by imparting the realities of life in early America - there are lengthy accounts of debates and correspondence among these political luminaries that students of North Carolina history will savor.

    One of my favorites is this 1792 letter to Shearin from Nathaniel Macon, then serving in Philadelphia as a member of North Carolina's congressional delegation (Macon would later become Speaker of the House and a U.S. Senator). An excerpt:

    It isn't for naught that I am here. [Alexander] Hamilton's latest scheme is to pay bounties to his favorite Eastern industries. He would have us, the farmers, subsidize his Yankee manufacturers and ship owners yet further.

    James Madison of Virginia emerges as a leading voice of reason against Hamilton. Hamilton tries to get around the strictness of the functions enumerated for the federal government in the body of the Constitution by pointing to the "promote the general welfare" in the Preamble. Madison has the proper reply: If Congress can apply money indiscriminately for the purpose of promoting the general welfare, then it can take religion, education, road building, literally everything under its control. Why not reduce the Constitution to one phrase: The Federal government can do anything!..

    In any case, it is utterly unjust to protect one set of industries at the expense of everyone else. When Hamilton & his corps in Congress say "for the good of the nation," what they generally mean is themselves.

    If you aspire to learn more about North Carolina's role in the early debates about federal power, I'd urge you to read this book. If not, well, then you and I are just very different people.