Charles Beard's central argument has been widely discredited for decades now, and in retrospect it seems overly simplistic that we can boil down the motivations for the constitution to simply economic self-interest. Modern day political historians note multiple reasons for the push for the constitution which could often differ from state to state or even one locale to the next. Beard was certainly correct in that economic interest was a motivator for forming a closer Union, and Beard was right to emphasize the conservative nature of the Constitution which is in many ways an effort to protect themselves from the increasing radicalization of state governments. Beard's other famous contention that the political battles of the founding were based on class conflict has also been discredited (again an over simplification) although especially in the North, the political battles can oftentimes take on a quasi-class basis.