Tomorrow is Constitution Day, the
day that we commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution on
September 17, 1787. The Constitution was written in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
the same place where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The gathering,
now known as the Constitutional Convention, was held May 25 to September 17,
1787. After much debate throughout the Thirteen Colonies, New Hampshire became
the ninth state to ratify the document on June 21, 1788. The new government founded
and governed under the U.S. Constitution started on March 4, 1789.
Most Americans know about
Independence Day, or at least that a national holiday falls on July 4, but not
too many know about Constitution Day. Yet, Constitution Day may be the more
important holiday of the two, particularly at times when the Constitution is
threatened. The Constitution is at greater risk right now than it has been
since the Civil War. The Constitution is a miraculous document that directs and
limits the powers of the federal government.
There were many miracles that took
place during the years of 1776 and 1789, but three of them stand out plainly in
history. The first is that the colonial army, made up of disorganized and
poorly equipped volunteers, defeated Great Britain, the greatest military power
in the world at that time. Nothing short of a miracle could have brought this victory
to the colonists.
The second miracle took place in the
drafting, signing, and ratifying of the Constitution. The leaders and/or people
of the Thirteen Colonies could not agree on anything because they were so
diversified. Yet, representatives of the colonies were able to agree in the
writing of a new Constitution, and they accomplished this great feat in a
period of only four months of deliberation.
There are people who believe that
much of the U.S. Constitution was divinely inspired. As miraculous as the
writing itself, the ratification of it may be just as phenomenal. There were
concerns about the rights of the people and the rights of the states being
protected from a corrupt federal government, but these concerns were eased with
the promise of a Bill of Rights.
The Founders decided that only nine
of the thirteen colonies would need to ratify the Constitution because they
knew that it would be almost impossible to get all thirteen colonies to agree.
Even at that, several leaders – Patrick Henry, George Mason, James Madison,
Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock – made
extraordinary efforts to encourage the three most powerful colonies – Virginia,
New York, and Massachusetts – to ratify the Constitution. The smaller colonies
were more willing to ratify it after the three biggest ones had done so.
The U.S. Constitution, like the
Declaration of Independence, is a unique document. It created a government but
limited its powers in several different ways. It created a system of checks and
balances by dividing the power between three separate but equal branches of the
government – the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. It also
separated the power between the federal government and state governments.
The Constitution limits power in
several other ways, including the frequent elections. It sets up the schedule
of president/vice president being elected every four years, senators every six
years, and representatives – those closes to the people – are elected every two
years. It puts the power in the people and gives them opportunity and power to
replace incompetent and/or corrupt representatives.
Scott Powell posted an article about the Constitution at the Canada Free Press about the Constitution. He says that
Constitution Day may be the most important holiday in 2018 because the
Constitution itself is under attack like never before. He states that it was
the “combination of limiting governmental power and maximizing people’s rights”
that “makes the U.S. Constitution unique.” He explains that the constraints on
the government written into the Constitution empower the people. This
combination helped Americans “to exercise their freedom and ingenuity to create
and build – driving the United States from colonial poverty to world economic
superpower in just 200 years.”
Powell reminds us that every person
who is elected to a government office or appointed as a judge or as a secretary
in the President’s cabinet pledge an oath to “support and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Then he explains why he believes that there is a civil war in the nation.
So it comes as an unprecedented shock to
learn that a significant number of high-ranking U.S. Government officials –
most appointed during the Obama administration – betrayed their oaths of office
and refused to accept the will of the people manifest in Trump’s 304 electoral
college vote victory over Clinton’s 227 votes. A new civil war has begun, but
it is very different than the one fought 157 years ago.
Powell continues his article by
reminding Americans of the many ways that the Trump administration is trying to
reign in the corruption and his many accomplishments, including the appointment
of “a large number of outstanding constitutionalist jurists to the high
courts.” These judges may hear numerous cases against corrupt officials.
Even though Powell acknowledges that
there is a civil war taking place in the United States, he also says that there
is reason for hope on this Constitution Day. The “frenzy” generated by the
Democrats against President Trump is most likely an indicator of “the panic
getting more animated and louder as the day of legal reckoning gets closer.” He
closes his article with this statement, one that should give all Americans
hope.
Constitution Day is an occasion to
remember that equal justice under the law is the standard, that we the people
are in charge, and that the federal government should answer to us, and not the
other way around.
The U.S. Constitution is a great
blessing in the lives of Americans as well as people all over the world. For
this reason and many others, we must protect and preserve the Constitution in
order for it to protect all of us.
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