September 6, 1789 – Thomas Jefferson Writes to James Madison that Every Constitution Should Expire Naturally After 19 Years

Jefferson, writing from Paris to Madison, averred that “no society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs always to the living generation.” He therefore argued (based on the lifespans of the time) that

Every constitution then, & every law, naturally expires at the end of 19 years. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force, & not of right.”

Thomas Jefferson as a young man

What about if subsequent generations had the power of repeal? Jefferson contended this was not workable because of the following factors:

The people cannot assemble themselves. Their representation is unequal & vicious. Various checks are opposed to every legislative proposition. Factions get possession of the public councils. Bribery corrupts them. Personal interests lead them astray from the general interests of their constituents: and other impediments arise so as to prove to every practical man that a law of limited duration is much more manageable than one which needs a repeal.”

Therefore, he concluded, the earth should belong to the living, and not to the dead.

You can read his entire letter here.