Throughout American history the nature and significance of our nation’s Founding period (commonly defined by the beginning year of 1775 and an end-date of 1800) has been contentious because one’s interpretation of them is fundamental to his conception of America. In opposition to leftists such as Charles Beard, who thought the Founders were motivated to frame the Constitution purely by economic self-interest, conservatives have desired a clear understanding of what the Founding means to America. An American conservative by definition finds something to conserve in the American political tradition. There are nonetheless wide disagreements between conservatives over the nature of the Founding, divergences of opinion sometimes almost as wide as those between conservatives and their liberal and leftist opponents.