What Does the Constitution Teach for America Today?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the Constitution of the United States. Delegates from most of the thirteen colonies arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in early July 1787 to create a written constitution that could govern the new nation. Very few of the delegates imagined what the final product would be.

George Washington called the Constitution the “Miracle at Philadelphia” and credited the document to the “spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable” (Washington’s letter of transmittal of the Constitution to Congress).

After sharing the above information, Thomas B. Griffith compared the current political situation with all the “division and partisan politics” to the circumstances of the Constitutional Convention. He indicated that today’s Americans need to practice the same indispensable qualities as did the Framers of the Constitution. 

Constitutional law scholar Derek Webb explored what Washington meant in a brilliant article that points out that the delegates to the Convention exhibited not only civility in their debates – a good first step – but more important still, they were willing to set aside parochial interests, come to a compromise, and in some instances even give up cherished liberties for the sake of unity.

In other words, the “miracle of Philadelphia” was not a deus ex machina. It came about only because people made an effort to understand one another and were willing to give up some things they valued dearly for the sake of unity. This is the road map for overcoming division – for achieving the miracle.

Griffith credited President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as giving a solution for the division in our day. President Oaks said, “On contested issues, we should seek to moderate and to unify.” Griffith indicated that this “straightforward and simple directive” from President Oaks to be “the animating spirit that created the United States Constitution in 1787. And, without it today, the Constitution will not long survive.” 

Numerous Founding Fathers made statements similar to that of President Oaks. John Adams observed, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” James Madison wrote that our Constitution requires “sufficient virtue among men for self-government,” otherwise, “nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain them from destroying and devouring one another.” 

Griffith shared statements from other Americans. Michael Gerson noted, “Our political system is designed for vigorous disagreement. It is not designed for irreconcilable contempt. Such contempt loosens the ties of citizenship and undermines the idea of patriotism.”

Arthur Brooks observed that this contempt is “ripping our country apart. … Political scientists have found that our nation is more polarized than it has been at any time since the Civil War.”

NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt warns, “There is a very good chance American democracy will fail, that … we will have a catastrophic failure of our democracy. … We just don’t know what a democracy looks like when you drain all trust out of the system.”

Americans cannot overcome the divisiveness without positive action. Griffith paraphrased the words of President Oaks to say that we should build “bridges of understanding across partisan divides.” Griffith claimed that the Constitution calls us to unity because we are the United States of America.