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Ms. Harris, I am a big supporter of FAIR and like what you wrote except that I was disappointed in the tired, old, baseless claim that the foundation of our nation "was intended to favor only wealthy white men". The Founders and the foundation were hardly perfect, but to think the Founders did not want the new nation to benefit their own wives and daughters, as well as free blacks and those who were not "wealthy" is anti-historical. FAIR has always stood up to such race-baiting, gender-baiting, anti-American rhetoric. I hope it plans to continue to do so.

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Thank you for your comment, Donald. Your point is well taken. I could have clarified my statement with deeper historical context, but did not due to the brevity of my message.

Although voting rights were determined by the individual colonies, in the 18th century these rights were generally restricted to males and based on property ownership. Estimates of the percentage of voting-eligible men vary widely, but the consensus among historians is that early on that number did not exceed 20%. Of course, by the 19th century these restrictions eased considerably.

“Wealthy” was perhaps a poor choice of words, and for that I apologize. I chose that word because land ownership was, at least initially, not widely available to all colonists. My statement was a historical generalization, and I will be careful not to do this in the future.

Please understand that the spirit of my statement arose from a deep belief that regardless of how limited voting rights and other liberties may have been when our country was founded, they have expanded exponentially and made it the inclusive and vibrant nation that it is today. I also hope you appreciate the larger point of my message: despite whatever flaws our county has (and to be clear, every country is flawed), the beauty of the American experiment is worth defending. I’m committed to FAIR because the work we do supports that effort.

Thank you again, Donald. And thanks to the other posters who raised this issue.

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Thank you for your thoughtful response!

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Agreed!!

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