America at a Crossroads: Founding Ideals, Slavery & the Future of the US

A Nation at a Crossroads: Examining America’s Founding and Unresolved Divisions

As the United States approaches its 250th birthday, a series of examinations into the nation’s identity and enduring fractures is underway. The “America at a Crossroads” project, reported by Judy Woodruff for PBS News Hour, delves into the complexities of the country’s founding, the individuals excluded from its initial promises, and the historical issues that remain unresolved.

Woodruff’s reporting began in Vermont, a state whose motto, “Freedom and Unity,” provides a fitting backdrop for exploring these themes. Her conversations with residents revealed a deep sense of pain stemming from the country’s increasingly bitter political divide. Scott MacDonald, a Vermont resident, expressed his dismay, stating, “Seeing my country essentially split in half is very, very painful.” He lamented the loss of civility, noting that “There was a time when you could just quietly disagree with somebody, and that seems to be gone.”

The series also highlights the importance of how history is taught and understood. Wendy Hayward, a Vermont teacher, argued that the current approach often avoids confronting the full truth of the nation’s past. “The way we have taught history in this country has been an avoidance of what our history is,” she said.

Central to the exploration is the question of what kind of country the founders built and who was left out of its initial vision. Hayward directly posed the questions: “What really happened with slavery? What really happened with minorities, women?”

Historian Joseph Ellis, author of “The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding,” offered insights into the founders’ motivations and limitations. He emphasized the unprecedented nature of their endeavor, stating that they “reversed the tectonic plates of Western political thought. Power did not flow downward from God to kings, but upward from that mysterious crew called the people to their elected representatives.”

However, Ellis also acknowledged a “fatal flaw” in the design of majority rule and the exclusion of significant portions of the population. He explained that when it came to race, there was a universal unwillingness to embrace a biracial society. “If you say, do you want to end slavery, they will say yes. Then do you want a biracial society? No. All whites, all of them in the North and the South say the same thing,” Ellis explained.

By 1776, one in five people in the American colonies were enslaved, and Native American nations controlled most of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains. Neither group was included in the Constitution’s promise of “we, the people.” Ellis pointed out that even those advocating for the end of slavery were not prepared to grant equal treatment to formerly enslaved people, a failure that ultimately led to the Civil War.

The legacy of these exclusions continues to resonate through American history, as evidenced by the words of presidents from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush and Barack Obama, all of whom addressed the ongoing struggle for equal rights and the persistence of racial divisions. Kennedy asked if “all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities.” Bush acknowledged slavery as “a blight on our history” and the continued existence of racism. Obama stated that “race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society.”

The debates surrounding policing, voting rights, and federal power, including recent protests in Minnesota, demonstrate that these issues remain deeply relevant today. Woodruff’s reporting also noted the ongoing efforts to reshape how race is taught and remembered, referencing the actions of the Trump administration in this regard.

Ellis argued that the founders deliberately postponed addressing the issue of slavery, fearing it would destroy the nascent nation. He explained that raising the issue during the Revolutionary War or the Constitutional Convention would have led to secession and the collapse of the union.

He also highlighted the exclusion of Native Americans, who were not considered citizens, lacked voting rights, and were not included in the treaty that formally established the United States. He stated that their land was essentially confiscated, and that Washington, as president, recognized the potential consequences of this injustice.

Despite these failures, Ellis emphasized that the founding documents were not immutable. “The Constitution itself isn’t a set of truths. It’s a framework in which we continue to argue about what the truths are. We have lost that capacity, it seems to me, to argue with each other in a strenuous but friendly way,” he said.

Ellis urged Americans to engage with the foundational texts of the nation, recommending that they read the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense.”

Back at the Country Girl Diner, residents reflected on the weight of history and the importance of learning from it. Wendy Hayward stated, “You don’t change history. History is what it is. We have to learn from it. We have to live it. And if we want to change, we have that ability.” Scott MacDonald added, “We have had parts of our history that are shameful, of course, and every country has. It’s what we do about it now that matters.”

For Ellis, the most pressing concern is the future of the republic. He described the current election as “the most important midterm election in American history,” asserting that “the republic is on the ballot.” He urged citizens to participate, regardless of their political stance, stating, “Whatever position you end up concluding is yours, act on it.”