They Got What They Wanted

Charles A. Beard’s An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, originally issued in 1913, was probably the most decisive piece of historical research ever published in this country. It made economic determinism de rigueur in the academies, and it led scores of young people to Marx and the theory of the class war.

To Beard himself, the effect of his explosive charge was disconcerting, at least in the later phases of his long and fruitful life. In many a book and article—see his The Economic Basis of Politics and Related Writings, recently compiled and annotated by William Beard (Vintage Books, $1.25)—Beard was careful to explain that, far from being a Marxist, he was content to accept Aristotle and James Madison as his masters. Indeed, there are many passages in Beard which seem to agree with John Locke that the protection of property is, if not the sole aim of government, at least one of its more important aims.

JC

About the Author

John Chamberlain

John Chamberlain (1903–1995) was an American writer.

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Charles A. Beard’s An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, originally issued in 1913, was probably the most decisive piece of historical research ever published in this country. It made economic determinism de rigueur in the academies, and it led scores of young people to Marx and the theory of the class war.

To Beard himself, the effect of his explosive charge was disconcerting, at least in the later phases of his long and fruitful life. In many a book and article—see his The Economic Basis of Politics and Related Writings, recently compiled and annotated by William Beard (Vintage Books, $1.25)—Beard was careful to explain that, far from being a Marxist, he was content to accept Aristotle and James Madison as his masters. Indeed, there are many passages in Beard which seem to agree with John Locke that the protection of property is, if not the sole aim of government, at least one of its more important aims.