A late coda.

The founders were not all, or only, classical republicans, thank God. It is a ferocious doctrine when uncut by anything else, an expressway to Sparta. It also has nothing to do with Christianity, as Machiavelli, the modern reviver of c.r., knew. The founders were principled men, but they defined their principles in their own way, using an eclectic mix of common law, classical republicanism, natural rights theory, Christianity, and (among the most intelligent) nascent economics. Montesquieu may have been the modern writer they most admired, but they manhandle him whenever they need to.

My hunch is that Jefferson switched property to pursuit of happiness because of his greatness of spirit, and his golden ear. You don’t fight the British army for the mortgage.