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Remember the Constitution

by William Green
| September 17, 2010 9:00 PM

On May 14, 1787, delegates from the 13 States of the brand new United States began to gather in Philadelphia for a long hot summer of negotiation and compromise that eventually led to the framing and adopting of our Constitution. Some came reluctantly. Many felt that the then current "governing" arrangement under the Articles of Confederation would be more protective of personal freedoms and the principles of the Revolution than would be a more centralized "federal" government.

It wasn't until May 25 that there were enough delegates present to make a quorum. By mid June it became clear that merely revising the Articles of Confederation would not be adequate. Many difficulties with government had arisen in the short time since the 13 colonies had at great price won their independence and become the 13 States. These difficulties included among others an inability to regulate commerce between the States, the inability to generate operating money through the levy of taxes, the inability to support any kind of war effort in the cause of national defense, and little ability to settle disputes between the states. Additionally, our brand new country at the time was on the edge of economic disaster. There was a flood of paper money, and extreme inflation had led to the price of a pound of tea being nearly $100. A depressed business climate was threatening many small farmers with extinction. Some unable to pay their debts were put in jail, and farms were sometimes taken and sold for taxes.

In this difficult social context there was a strong movement for a more centralized "federal" government that could address these concerns and form a "more perfect union." But there was also an opposing movement guided by the ideal of maintaining personal freedoms and the autonomy of the individual states. This derived in part from a fear that a more centralized government would in fact usurp those rights and freedoms and return the country to the original pain underlying the Revolution. In fact there were some who spoke of an emerging "monarchy" along with speculations regarding a "king" of the United States.

As the long, hot and humid Philadelphia summer wore on (with no air conditioning in the building) there were many discussions and speeches and some amazing compromises. At central issue was how to give the new federal government enough power to be effective while at the same time preserving the initiative, ingenuity, creativity and rewards of personal freedoms and liberty. How much power should the federal government have? How can there be an assurance of adequate representation? How should representatives be elected? How can there be an assurance of balance in representation between large states and small states?

You can imagine how many different answers there must have been to these questions and the difficulties in coming to an agreement. The debate was at times so heated that some wondered how the gathering could ever lead to anything constructive and worried how "enemies abroad" may rub their hands with glee at the dissolution of the newly founded country of freedom. Benjamin Franklin, the oldest delegate to the convention and very revered, appealed for daily prayers and asked that "the Father of lights ... illuminate our understandings."

Agreement was finally reached and the Constitution was approved by the delegates on Sept. 17, 1787. It included a Preamble, seven Articles and 27 Amendments with the first 10 Amendments becoming the Bill of Rights. It was only the Bill of Rights that eventually assured the ratification of the whole Constitution by the States. It was that specific enumeration of personal rights protected from the intrusions of the Federal Government that finally convinced the opponents that all would be well enough. Thomas Jefferson wrote at that time to James Madison that the Bill of Rights is "what the people are entitled to against every government on earth." And so it was that with the ratification of New Hampshire on June 21, 1788, the Constitution with its Bill of Rights was adopted.

As we remember our Constitution during this Constitution Week of Sept. 17-23 we note that it is designed to protect our personal liberties. Liberty is no doubt our most important quality and the reasons so many have clamored to become part of our society and nation. But what is liberty? One of the most renowned explanations of liberty was given by the eminent jurist Learned Hand to newly naturalized citizens at a ceremony in New York's Central Park in 1944. He commented that true liberty is an inner quality and that external expressions and institutions, such as our Constitution and all the structures surrounding it, must have as a foundation the invisible spiritual qualities of the heart. Otherwise our hopes in the power of external structures or institutions, even ones as strong as ours, become false and empty:

"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it. No constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it." He goes on to say that the Spirit of Liberty is "... not too sure that it is right... it seeks to understand the minds of other men and women... it weighs their interest alongside its own without bias; it remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded... it is the spirit of Him who has taught mankind the lesson it has never learned but has never quite forgotten; that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest."

As we search for ways to respond constructively to the conflicts and divisions of our own times, it is helpful during this Constitution Week of 2010 to remember Judge Hand's insightful remarks. And it is good to remember how the Framers of our Constitution found their way to balance and compromise in the midst of great conflict and division. It is very good to remember how the result of their collective effort produced a most amazing document for "We the People" and which, in terms of a social contract, has been imitated around the world more than any other. We now each can do our part to cultivate those invisible qualities of the heart that sustain the existence of our own free society. In this way we can each help to guarantee that "government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth" but remain a bright beacon in support of the hopes of so many others who also long to be free.

William Green is a Coeur d'Alene resident.

Constitution Week

For Constitution Week, Sept. 17-23 - Remembering the Beginnings of our Constitution