Celebrating 237th Birthday of the World’s Oldest Constitution
Written by Sydney Alix
“Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, because if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.”
-Daniel Webster
On this Day, September 17, 2024, we have the honor and privilege of celebrating the signing of the United States Constitution, which occurred on September 17, 1787, now 237 years ago (N.A.)(U.S.S.). The U.S. Constitution is considered to be the oldest constitution in the world, and has influenced the constitutions of multiple different countries (Oldest.org). The fact that it still remains intact, and in full force and effect at the age of 237 years is actually quite remarkable, especially considering that the average length of a constitution is a mere 17 years (Ginsburg, T, Elkins, Z., & Melton, J.)). As we celebrate this monumental day in our nation’s history, let us take a moment to revisit the events that led to the creation of our constitution, and review the great document itself, and discover why it has made our country and form of government so unique and successful.
The History of Constitution Day
The events that led up to the drafting, signing, and ratification of the Constitution were very tumultuous, and nearly fatal to the then young and struggling America. The first system of government that the American colonies adopted on November 15, 1777, after the Revolutionary War was set up under a document called the Articles of Confederation. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation did not provide a form of government that would be strong enough to govern the American colonies, and was, in fact, so weak, that it began to rapidly lead to national collapse. Under the Articles of Confederation, the states held a large amount of power that left the central/federal government weak, and practically useless. Not only was this government unable to regulate commerce or institute necessary taxes, but to make matters even worse, it would pass treaties with other nations that the states would not honor, neither would the states supply men for the military-owned forts, and instead, remained independent militarily, leaving the nation as a whole, enfeebled and vulnerable. Inflation was rampant, the national treasuries were heavily depleted, and insurrection and threats of interstate wars threatened to destroy the country. By 1881, the founding fathers, recognizing that the current form of government was unsustainable, met together in May, in Philadelphia for a Constitutional Convention at Independence Hall. Several long months later, after much deliberation and intense debate, they drafted and signed the U.S. Constitution, which has gone on to govern our country to this very day (N.A.).
Our Form of Government
The founding fathers recognized a timeless principle, namely that every single human being possess unalienable rights from God (i.e. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness/ Property) that no individual or entity has the right to take away or subvert. They also recognized that the purpose of government is to protect these rights, and that government should operate only according to the consent/will of the people. Both of these principles can be found clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” It is essential to know and understand the Declaration of Independence in order to properly understand the U.S. Constitution, as it not only explains what proper role/purpose of government is, but also how the God-given rights of the American colonists were violated by the despotic actions of the King of England (as listed in the 27 grievances of the Declaration of Independence). After living under the tyranny imposed under King George III prior to, and throughout the Revolutionary War, the founders fully recognized the importance of ensuring that America’s new form of government could not, in the same manner, accumulate centralized power, and abuse the rights of the American people.
Our form of government, as set up by our founding fathers in the Constitution is known as a Constitutional Republic, which is essentially rule by law, and a state of government where the people of the United States rule through their representatives according to the Constitution. A republic is not to be confused with a pure democracy, which is, in short, “Direct majority rule of
the people,” or rule by majority public feeling, which, as history has shown, can become very dangerous. Democracies only work in very small communities, and on a large scale are controlled by mob rule — the emotions, and not the reason of the people (while in a Republic, the representatives of the the people act as a filter to control and mitigate the reason or passion of human nature). This is a very important point to understand, as many people in our day mistakenly call our form of government a democracy. In actuality, our founding fathers were adamantly opposed to having a democracy, and justly feared the dangers of majority, mob-like rule (Wallbuilders.com)(Federer, W.).
With this understanding in mind, we can next move on to the Constitution itself, and the structure of our Constitutional Republic.
The U.S. Constitution
Our government is separated into three different branches: Legislative (Congress and the Senate), Executive (the President), and Judicial (the Supreme Court and other courts appointed by congress). A fact that can be seen in the Constitution itself, and that is also clearly stated by our founding fathers in the Federalist Papers (which are essentially the “user’s manual” to the Constitution) is that these three branches of government are not coequal. The Legislative branch was designed to be the strongest of the three branches, and the Judiciary the weakest (with the Executive in the middle). That said, each of the three branches, though not coequal, were given the ability to keep each other in check through various means in order to prevent absolute power from accumulating in one branch alone.
The establishment and enumerated powers of each branch are detailed in the first three articles of the Constitution: the Legislative in Article 1, the Executive in Article 2, and the Judicial in Article 3. The purpose of the Legislative branch is to make laws (which must be in accordance with the enumerated powers listed in Article 1), while that of the Executive branch is to carry out/execute the laws (which can be done through executive orders). Lastly, the purpose of the Judicial branch is to determine whether or not someone is guilty of breaking the law, and the constitutionality of laws (though it does not have the final say on the constitutionality of laws, it simply issues opinions that can be acted upon at the discretion of the Legislative and Executive branches) (Green, R.).
The last four articles of the Constitution (Articles 4-7) address various specifics regarding the jurisdiction and scope of the Federal government, such as the Federal government’s jurisdiction over the states, and the requirement that each state in the union must have a republican form of government (Article 4), how the constitution can be amended (Article 5), as well as the subjects of debts, the Supremacy of the U.S. Constitution (and treaties made by the United States) as the law of the land, and the oath of office (Article 6), and finally concludes with the ratification and certification/signing of the Constitution in Article 7 (Green, R.).
There are a total of 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The first 10 Amendments (known as the Bill of Rights) work to further protect the unalienable rights of Americans from government infringement, while the remaining 17 amendments address various other issues, and/or amend certain sections of the Constitution itself. The most well known of theses amendments are Amendment 1, which protects our freedoms of religion, speech, the press, peaceable assembly, and the right to petition the government, and Amendment 2, which protects the right to keep and bear arms. Amendments 3-4 protect the right to privacy and property, while Amendments 5-8 protect the rights of American citizens in the courts (Green, R.). Following the Bill of Rights, Amendments 11-27 address a variety of different issues, from making certain procedural changes in our government processes, to ending slavery and establishing Civil Rights, and protecting voting rights (Green, R.).
Arguably, two of the most important amendments to the Constitution are the last two amendments of the Bill of Rights (Amendments 9-10). The 9th Amendment reaffirms that any rights belonging to the people that not not listed in the Constitution/Bill of Rights (which is not an exhaustive list) are still to be protected, and are not subject to government infringement. The 10th Amendment further emphasizes this fact by stating that any power not specifically granted to the Federal government in the U.S. Constitution, belongs to the states and/or the people, respectively.
It is crucial to understand that the Constitution does not give us any rights. It sets up a form of government which has the sole purpose of protecting the rights of the American people, and which may not exercise any power other than that which has been granted to it by the American people (Green, R.). Since We the People are the ultimate governing authority in America, we can, at any time, either further delegate or take back any of the power that we have granted to our government. It is also our duty to be involved in our government, to see to it that it stays within its proper limits, and make our voices heard through our representatives if we are truly to be a government, “Of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
If You Can Keep It
After the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was approached by a concerned citizen who asked him what new form of government the American people possessed, to which he so famously replied, “A republic…if you can keep it.” Our founding fathers fully understood that the survival of our Constitutional Republic was ultimately dependent upon the vigilance and actions of the American people. If We the People of America fail to be good stewards of what we have been given, and do not take responsibility for the preservation of our republic, we should not be the least surprised to see it deteriorate and crumble.
There are many different ways for us to get involved: through voting (which is the most basic, and quiet frankly, non-negotiable step in fulfilling our duty), participation in registration and voter drives, teaching the rising generation (i.e. young people) to know, honor, and preserve our Constitution, contacting our federal, state, and local representatives, and holding them accountable to the U.S. Constitution, helping to support good, God-fearing candidates who will uphold the Constitution, or even in some cases, stepping up to run for office, be it for for city, county, state or federal positions. We all have a role to play, and a duty to perform. Throughout our nation’s history, countless courageous souls have given their lives to preserve our freedom. Shall we, through apathy, allow their great sacrifice to be wasted? The freedom of next generation, born and unborn, depends upon us — will we do our duty to see that the sacred torch of freedom, protected by the Constitution, is passed on to them, still burning brightly, or, God-forbid, allow it to be extinguished on our watch?
For 237 years, we have been blessed to live in a Constitutional Republic. On this Constitution Day, may each of us, as Americans, acknowledge our duty, and resolve to preserve our Constitution, our Republic, and our freedom, to both honor the sacrifices of those who have gone before us, and ensure that our children and grandchildren are blessed with the same precious inheritance that we have been given.
“The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”
~ George Washington,, First Inaugural Address, 1789
