The five-man committee presents its draft of the Declaration to Congress.

Let’s knock down a myth, shall we? I hope you don’t mind if I choose one that is particularly near and dear to the anti-government crowd.

In a debate last night, on the eve of their runoff contest today, Curtis Bostic quoted from a book written by Mark Sanford, as follows: “America was a country founded by political amateurs.” (And no, I don’t know why he said “America was” instead of “America is,” and I’m not going to go back and read the whole book to find out.)

Bostic was attempting to gain moral advantage here, you see. His point was to claim that he is the amateur, and Sanford the “career politician” (a term that in certain political circles is a grave insult).

Quoth Bostic:

I am the ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.’ I’m the amateur, like those people who founded this nation of ours. I am not looking for a career. I am not looking for somewhere to go. I want to serve you.”

Set aside the fact that Ms. Bostic has served on Charleston County Council for eight years, or the more obvious fact that he is looking to go somewhere — Washington. I’m perfectly willing to grant that he has spent fewer years in public office than his opponent. Although I’ll say in Sanford’s behalf that although he’s been in the public sphere since the early 1990s, he has learned almost nothing from the experience. If that elevates him in your estimation. It doesn’t in mine.

I don’t care about which of them is the least knowledgeable and experienced; let them fight it out.

What I want to ask is, Who were those amateurs “who founded this nation of ours”? Although I majored in history with a particular concentration in that period, I’m having trouble coming up with the names.

Of course, there were a lot of founders, and as a blogger with a day job, I don’t have time at the moment to look them all up. But let’s start with the core nation-founders. Let’s consider the three best-known members of the committee that the Continental Congress appointed to write the Declaration of Independence:

1. Thomas Jefferson — He was the youngest and least-experienced of the group. But he had served in the Virginia legislative body from 1769 to 1775. He had established himself as a sufficiently compelling writer in the realm of political ideas that John Adams particularly wanted him on the committee.
2. John Adams — His public career was launched in opposition to the Stamp Act in 1765. He became known at that time for drafting the instructions for delegates from Braintree to take to the Massachusetts legislature, which served as a model for other communities. He represented the British soldiers accused in the Boston “Massacre,” and got all of them off except for two convicted on lesser charges (as he should have). Going into the ’70s his reputation as the go-to guy for presenting political arguments only grew. It was quite natural that he would do the heavy lifting when the debate over independence came, as he had extensive experience making related arguments in the public sphere. He served Massachusetts in both the First and Second Continental Congresses.
3. Benjamin Franklin — Known for many enterprises, he had been involved in politics for about three decades. Starting in the 1740s, he had served on Philadelphia city council, a justice of the peace, as a delegate to the Pennsylvania assembly, as head of the PA delegation to the Albany Congress, and as deputy postmaster-general for North America. He had proposed a Plan of Union for the colonies as early as 1754.

Neither of the other two members of the committee — Roger Sherman or Robert Livingston — was a political novice, either. And they went on, alas, to have extensive public careers.

After the Declaration, Jefferson, Adams and Franklin served their countries, as ambassadors and presidents, for the rest of their productive lives — rather than going home to run a shop or whatever virtuous, private thing “amateurs” do after founding countries.

If one of y’all has the time to research all the other Founders, let us know what you find. I need to get back to work. But if you find that a majority was inexperienced in public life, Ill be surprised.