The Hillsdale College Online Courses Podcast The Great American Story: The Experiment Begins
Apr 15, 2026
Wilfred McClay, historian and lecturer on the early republic, offers a vivid tour of the Constitutional era. He explores the Constitution’s flaws and compromises, the rise and legal codification of slavery, Federalist vs Anti-Federalist debates, Washington’s risky experiment in republican government, and the clashes between Hamiltonian commerce and Jeffersonian agrarianism.
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How Slavery Grew From Indenture To Entrenchment
- Slavery developed in the colonies incidentally alongside indentured servitude rather than by design.
- By the 1650s–1660s laws hardened racial discrimination into slave codes making Africans and their offspring permanent chattel, reaching huge concentrations by 1750 in Virginia and South Carolina.
Founders' Moral Tension Over Slavery
- Many Founders owned slaves yet recognized the contradiction with revolutionary principles and feared slavery's national consequences.
- Some thought slavery would naturally die out, leading delegates to avoid explicit constitutional endorsement and use euphemisms instead.
Evaluate Founders Within Their Historical Context
- Think historically to judge political actors by their context rather than applying present standards.
- Put yourself in the framers' circumstances to understand why they postponed confronting slavery rather than dismissing their accomplishments outright.