Yes, the result of a deep flaws in some of our most brilliant Founding Fathers such as Jefferson, writing so eloquently about freedom while owning slaves. We humans have many flaws.

Which underlines the reason Heather Cox Richardson continuously hammers on the fact that among the founding documents, Lincoln continually lifted up the promises and aspirations contained in the Declaration of Independence, more-so than the Constitution.

The Declaration lays out the aspirations of Americans.

The Constitution is a first attempt to erect a framework within which those aspirations could be realized.

But as the framers were quick to note- that Constitution was to be “perfected” by future generations that would face the novel circumstances of their own times- times that demanded their own adaptations of the original aspirations embodied in the Declaration of Independence- that all [men] are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights- and that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Of note- the framers were all educated men who had received classical education- and “happiness” had a very particular meaning for them.

“Happiness” was attained- not by doing whatever one wanted, pursuing whatever pleasures one wished, but by pursuing enlightenment through education and civic engagement.

An educated citizenry necessary for the preservation of our liberties and all that.

Today, most Americans read at a sixth grade level or lower.