We the People Must… Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States of America

 

We the People Must… Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States of America

I republished an article this past Monday, one that discussed the importance and significance of the oaths of office our government officials take when they step into their government positions. But, as I was thinking about it more today, I became more convinced of this simple reality: the oath of office is meant to stir us, “we the people”, into the realization that our government doesn’t protect and defend government, the country, liberty or even the people-IT protects and defends the Constitution above all else.

We the people must first be convinced of this reality before any government official will care to be convinced of it. It’s the passion and reverence of the people for the Constitution, the law outside of government, that empowers the law outside of government and motivates those in government both to know and follow this law.

Why take an oath to something that you know those who hired you have no consideration or respect for? How much power does such an oath hold?

Truly. What better way to destroy the power of something or someone than to destroy the respect for that something or someone?

There is no need to destroy the Constitution if one can destroy the citizen’s respect and reverence for the Constitution. What government official would fight to confine her own power if she knows her citizenry has no care to see her power confined?

The erosion of even the idea of constitutionalism should be of great concern for those of us in America who desire limitations on government power. Consider this quote from the book, The Concept of Constitution in the History of Political Thought, discussing the origins of the idea of constitutionalism:

This should be a heavy quote for anyone invested in preserving the United States Constitution. This indifference in the masses is precisely what suffocates and slowly kills any power the Constitution or even the idea of constitutionalism hold. Without a citizenry passionate for and educated about the critical importance of the Constitution, indifference will germinate and grow. And as indifference grows in the masses, indifference or “lack of respect” grows in the chamber halls of government itself.

Which one causes which? Is government attempting to destroy all respect for the Constitution in the citizenry and the citizenry is complying? Or has the citizenry simply lost respect and therefore the government does the same? Perhaps in a mixture of both; but we can only control our actions and our choice to refuse indifference.

Perhaps the root of the indifference is that few, if any, Americans truly understand why a Constitution matters, much less why it should be followed. Few know the true consequences of life without a Constitution. Many, from all different political persuasions, feel in their guts that it should be followed, but few can articulate why. And that simple lack of understanding is all that’s necessary to allow indifference to set it. (There are even some who wish for the Constitution to be violated, not understanding the dire consequences such violations breed.)

And this lack of understanding comes from a place of ignorance. And perhaps the ignorance comes from a place of indifference, leaving us in a destructive feedback loop that has no escape. We’re indifferent because we’re ignorant and we’re ignorant because we’re indifferent.

And as that feedback loop continues the endlessly rotate, the power of the Constitution continues to wane, like a dying star clinging to its last embers.

Yes, I’m sure much of this ignorance has been perpetuated intentionally by those in power to keep themselves in power to avoid having to limit their power. But, fundamentally, we were the ones who first put them in power and we’re the ones who keep them in power. If we truly wanted to break out of our endless feedback cycle, we could. We’re the employers after all. But we must first identify and face our indifference to the Constitution and our ignorance of the Constitution. Without facing reality, we can’t begin to repair what’s broken.

Spread these articles on the Constitution far and wide, my friends. I’ve seen that the embers of passion lying dormant in the hearts of so many Americans can be stoked into a raging flame if given the right tools and information. I’ve heard from many individuals who have been enlightened to the reason why our government must follow the Constitution and all it took to spur into action was a brief escape from their feedback loop–a breaking of ignorance.

Friends, we must not assume that the Constitution will survive without a citizenry bent on fighting for its survival. We must face any and all indifference and ignorance that we still allow to live within ourselves or those around us and we must fight to rectify that which is broken."

Because, I ask. If we don’t, who will?

By C. McMasters Ph.D.

The Liberty Belle

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The Founding Fathers. Without them, there would have been no United States of America.

 

The Founding Fathers

These military leaders, rebels, politicians and writers varied in personality, status and background, but all played a part in forming a new nation and hammering out the framework for the young democracy.

Without them, there would have been no United States of America. The Founding Fathers, a group of predominantly wealthy plantation owners and businessmen, united 13 disparate colonies, fought for independence from Britain and penned a series of influential governing documents that steer the country to this day.

All the Founding Fathers, including the first four U.S. presidents, at one point considered themselves British subjects. But they revolted against the restrictive rule of King George III—outlining their grievances in the Declaration of Independence, a powerful (albeit incomplete) call for freedom and equality—and won a stunning military victory over what was then the world’s preeminent superpower.

The Founders proved equally adept later on in peacetime. When the federal government tottered under the Articles of Confederation, prominent citizens met anew to hammer out the U.S. Constitution, overcoming major areas of disagreement between large and small states and Southern and Northern ones to form a stable political system. Showing foresight, they included a Bill of Rights, which enshrined many civil liberties into law and provided a blueprint for other emerging democracies.

There’s no official consensus on who should be considered a Founding Father, and some historians object to the term altogether. On the whole, though, it’s applied to those leaders who initiated the Revolutionary War and framed the Constitution. Here are eight of the most influential characters in America’s origin story:

*George Washington

Before he fought against the British, George Washington fought for the British, serving as a commander in the French and Indian War. A prosperous Virginia farmer who owned hundreds of slaves, he came to resent the various taxes and restrictions being imposed on the colonies by the British crown.

Once the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, he was placed in charge of the Continental Army and quickly suffered a near-disastrous defeat at the Battle of Brooklyn. More defeats followed—all in all, Washington lost more battles than he won. Nonetheless, he kept his ragtag troops together even through a freezing winter at Valley Forge and, with the help of his French allies, was able to expel the British by 1783.

Washington then returned to Virginia intent on resuming his career as a farmer. But he was persuaded to re-enter politics as head of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, believing that a stronger federal government was needed to preserve the nation. In 1789, Washington was overwhelmingly elected the first president of the United States. He is aptly known as the “Father of His Country.”

*Alexander Hamilton

A poor, illegitimate orphan, Alexander Hamilton emigrated as a teenager from the British West Indies to New York. Rising to prominence as an aide-de-camp to Washington during the Revolutionary War, he became an impassioned supporter of a strong central government.

After attending the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he wrote the majority of the highly persuasive Federalist Papers, which argued for the Constitution’s ratification. Washington then tapped him to serve as the first U.S. treasury secretary, a position he used to push for the creation of a national bank. Later immortalized on the $10 bill, Hamilton was killed in an 1804 duel with his bitter rival Aaron Burr, the sitting vice president.

*Benjamin Franklin

Early America’s foremost Renaissance man, Benjamin Franklin was a skilled author, printer, scientist, inventor and diplomat despite a formal education that ended at age 10. When not designing bifocals, harnessing electricity, playing music or publishing Poor Richard’s Almanack, he worked constantly on civic projects to improve his adopted city of Philadelphia.

In the beginning stages of the American Revolution, Franklin was appointed to the five-member committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. He then traveled to France, where he secured French assistance for the war effort and helped negotiate the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the official end to the conflict. Just prior to his death, Franklin served as a sort of elder statesman at the Constitutional Convention.

*John Adams

A distinguished Massachusetts lawyer, John Adams became a relatively early proponent of the revolutionary cause. Just like Franklin, he served on the committee that wrote the Declaration of Independence, journeyed overseas to secure French military aid and helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris. He chaired other key committees as well and even found time to draft the Massachusetts Constitution (which is still in use).

After about 10 years of diplomatic service abroad, Adams returned home in 1788 and subsequently became vice president under Washington. Following Washington’s two terms, he was then elected president, serving from 1797 to 1801. In a striking coincidence, Adams and his friend-turned-rival-turned-friend Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day, July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

*Samuel Adams

The second cousin of John Adams, Samuel Adams was a political firebrand who drummed up immense opposition to British policies in Boston, a hotbed of the resistance. Believing that the colonists were subject to “taxation without representation,” he joined the Sons of Liberty, an underground dissident group that at times resorted to tarring and feathering British loyalists.

Adams likely planned the 1773 Boston Tea Party, and in 1775 his attempted arrest helped spark the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first skirmish of the Revolutionary War. Unlike many of the Founders, Adams was staunchly anti-slavery. He signed the Declaration of Independence and went on to serve as governor of Massachusetts.

*Thomas Jefferson

Well educated and prosperous, Thomas Jefferson was a Virginia lawyer and politician who came to believe the British Parliament held no authority over the 13 colonies. In 1776, he was given the immense task of writing the Declaration of Independence, in which he famously declared that “all men are created equal” and “that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,” such as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (A lifelong slaveholder, he did not extend these concepts to African-Americans.)

As secretary of state under Washington, Jefferson clashed constantly with Hamilton over foreign policy and the role of government. He later served as vice president to John Adams prior to becoming president, himself, in 1801.

*James Madison

A close friend of Jefferson’s, James Madison likewise grew up on a Virginia plantation and served in the state legislature. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, he proved to be perhaps the most influential delegate, developing a plan to divide the federal government into three branches—legislative, executive and judicial—each with checks on its power. This plan, which was largely adopted, earned him the moniker “Father of the Constitution.”

Madison next co-authored the Federalist Papers and, as a U.S. congressman, became the driving force behind the Bill of Rights. He was elected president in 1808 after serving as Jefferson’s secretary of state.

*John Jay

Not nearly as recognized as his major Founder cohorts, John Jay nonetheless played a pivotal role in the creation of the United States. A lawyer, he originally preferred reconciling with Britain rather than fighting for independence. Once war broke out, however, he wholeheartedly joined the side of the colonists, serving, among other roles, as a diplomat to Spain and linking up with Franklin and Adams to negotiate the Treaty of Paris.

Upon returning to the United States, Jay served as secretary of foreign affairs under the Articles of Confederation and authored a few of the Federalist Papers. In 1789, he became the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and six years later he was elected governor of New York.

*Additional Founders

Many other figures have also been cited as Founding Fathers (or Mothers). These include John Hancock, best known for his flashy signature on the Declaration of Independence; Gouverneur Morris, who wrote much of the Constitution; Thomas Paine, the British-born author of Common Sense; Paul Revere, a Boston silversmith whose “midnight ride” warned of approaching redcoats; George Mason, who helped craft the Constitution but ultimately refused to sign it; Charles Carroll, the lone Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence; Patrick Henry, who famously declared “Give me liberty, or give me death!”; John Marshall, a Revolutionary War veteran and longtime chief justice of the Supreme Court; and Abigail Adams, who implored her husband, John, to “remember the ladies” while shaping the new country."

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