“a republic,” but only “if you can keep it.” The source of this quotation is a journal kept by James McHenry (1753-1816) while he was a Maryland delegate to the Constitutional Convention. On the page where McHenry records the events of the last day of the convention, September 18, 1787, he wrote: “A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy – A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.” Then McHenry added: “The Lady here alluded to was Mrs. Powel of Philada.” The journal is at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. https://m.primal.net/KRvt.jpg
Even the Founders were opposed to democracy, but somehow Jefferson's party became called the "Democrats," or "Democratic-Republicans" (maybe we should call today's uniparty that), and was sometimes referred to as "the Democracy." And today's Democrats seem to want to replace the idea of the US being a republic with the idea that it is a democracy, which is interesting given what Hoppe says about democracy's connection to communism...
Democracy robs freedom of choice from minorities. Unalienable rights are rights that cannot be taken away, not even by 100% majority rule vote. Unalienable rights protect the freedom of choice of minorities and individuals. Majority rule vote cannot take away, dilute, or add qualifiers to unalienable rights. America is a Constitutional Republic, designed to protect those unalienable rights. America is not and has never been a Democracy. Legislatures cannot remove or limit unalienable rights with legislation, and supreme courts cannot rule away unalienable rights.