Underappreciated? The founding fathers have been rubbed continuously in every American's face for the last 200 years. Few people under-appreciate them. Every media property, every news article, every public figure continues to worship them as Gods. The status quo position is that the Constitution and the Founders were basically right about the important stuff, and that overall they were very cool guys (even if some of them had the minor flaw of owning slaves). At least this is the narrative that was driven into me throughout all of my education. It seems to be a common viewpoint for both liberals and conservatives.

I agree, though, that the Founders did create something remarkable: a genocidal empire that draped itself in ideals of equality and righteousness when it was largely built by slaves and exploited workers; professed to love diversity and Christian morals as it genocided untold numbers of Native Americans; styled itself as a defender against European imperialism in the Western Hemisphere while it built its own empire and repeatedly intervened militarily in Latin American countries; claimed to be in favor of free markets while using its military and police forces to suppress workers/foreign governments to favor American corporate interests; and so on. It really is a remarkable project.

Let's be honest. The Founders were wealthy landowners that wanted to create a political system that favored themselves, while deposing the British powers that were a rung above them.