Often maligned, misunderstood, and misrepresented, the Constitution of the United States of America is a historical masterpiece. Surviving far longer than any other national constitution, its age is surpassed only by that of the Constitution of the State of Massachusetts. Frequently referred to as antiquated and outdated, this document and the government it created, has primarily survived for two reasons: It’s a document of compromise and a document of principles. Among those compromises and principles we see the seeds of the end of slavery, the protection of individual rights, and the ability to address deficiencies in the Constitution itself. Sadly, while many people blame our Constitution for the state of our country today, my opinion, born out by facts and research, is that most of the things we complain about stem not from the Constitution, but from us not following it in the first place.
Why shouldn’t we blame the Constitution itself? Doesn’t it govern this country? No. So if you’re waiting for the ink and parchment to jump out of its case and fix the problem, you’ll have an extremely long wait. The Constitution is only a document; in its articles and clauses are the ideals and principles we wanted to govern this country by, but it was the ideas that were to rule this nation, not the ink on parchment. The Constitution describes the form and limits of government, but it is ‘we the people’, through those we hire to do the work, that will govern us. In other words, the Constitution describes the what and how, but it is we the people that were to insure it was followed. Expecting a document to do what the people of this country are supposed to do, we have changed America from a land of laws to one of men.
What is the Constitution? What was it supposed to do? Technically, the Constitution is a compact, a contract between sovereign entities. What are these sovereign entities? The states themselves. Where did the states get the authority to enter into such a compact? Or, put another way, how did the states become sovereign? They did so when we the people authorized them to declare independence.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States;
Declaration of Independence
After declaring themselves free and independent, these new states banded together under the Articles of Confederation and fought the British to retain their newly assumed statehood. After seeing the deficiencies of the Articles, different people had different ideas about how to make things better. That is why the first reason given in the preamble is to form a more perfect union.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America
However, that’s not all. Listed in its preamble were all the reasons our Founding Fathers created the Constitution in the first place. We think about justice and defense and we may even think about the general welfare, but how often have you thought about the fact that the Constitution was created to secure to you the blessing of liberty? Not just to secure us liberty, but the blessings that liberty brings. And not just for those who wrote the Constitution, but for those of us who’ve followed since then, to protect the rights and freedoms we hold dear. The very rights that are under attack today.
If the Constitution was created to make the United States a more perfect union and secure to us the blessings of liberty, what happened? Over the years the American people, who established the Constitution, stopped paying attention to it.
Initially, we stopped doing our part in holding our elected representatives accountable to those they represent. Every two years we hire people to represent us; their job is to represent our interests and express our views within the federal government we created. Have we forgotten they also swear or affirm an oath to support the Constitution? The Constitution not only creates the offices these representatives hold, but as the supreme law of the land, it also sets the boundaries and limitations on what the governments that make up this union can do. Next, the American people stopped holding our representatives to their oath of office. We were more concerned about how much other people’s money they would divert to our coffers or what pet programs of ours they would spend it on. We forgot de Tocqueville’s warning;
The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.
Alexis de Tocqueville
Lastly, we stopped teaching our children about the Constitution and what it means. Not just the structure of the government it created, but how it protect the rights we claim are so dear to us. We stopped teaching our children and handed that awesome responsibility over to governments. Starting with the states, then eventually including the federal government, we abdicated our role as educators. We did little, if anything, when our children were not taught about the limitations on government and how freedom comes with responsibility. When our children were taught that the government ruled and that the government could and should decide for them how they should live their lives, we said nothing. We allowed them to be taught to depend on the government that was created to depend on us.
Meanwhile, we the people let it happen. In many cases, we encouraged state governments to take over our responsibilities. We no longer wanted to protect ourselves, provide for the needy, or even provide for ourselves when we grew older or got sick. We stopped looking at the federal government as our creation, bound by a set of enumerated powers that we had given it, and began looking to it as our master. We no longer held those in Washington to the powers we had granted them. Worst of all, we now saw the federal treasury as an endless source of “free” money. All we had to do was vote for someone who would get it for us. It didn’t take long for the politicians to do what de Tocqueville predicted.
Therefore, with federal money came federal intrusion and federal control. And since we no longer knew the limits the people had put on the federal government through our Constitution, we watched it grow and grow, and all too often applauded it along the way. When we did notice that government was violating the supreme law of the land, we expected someone else to do something about it. Unfortunately, when everyone expects someone else to do something, no one does anything.
Now when many people see the disfunction in Washington they blame the Constitution. The problems we see did not originate with the Constitution though, but in the American peoples’ unwillingness to learn about the supreme law of the land and hold those who work in their name accountable for their actions. If you want to know where the problems in Washington originated, simply look in the mirror. You, me, and our neighbors have selected representatives to bribe us with our own money. We tell them they must promise to support the Constitution and yet reelect them when they don’t. We ask candidates what programs they will support, but never ask ourselves if that program is constitutionally authorized or not. We have forgotten why we have a constitution in the first place and have made ourselves subjects of the government we created. We applauded as they usurped powers we had not given them and then complained when they exercised those same powers.
If the bad news is the American people are the root of the problem, then the good news is the American people are the root of the problem. We don’t need those in Washington to fix the problem. We don’t even need those in our state capitals to fix it. We can fix it for ourselves. All we have to do is be willing to educate ourselves rather than relying on others to do it for us.
The Constitution can not rein in government, but it shows the mechanism by which we can. If we created the government, then we are responsible for it. If we have setup rules and boundaries within which we expect the government to work, then it is our responsibility to enforce those rules. The Constitution does not govern the nation; it doesn’t even control the governments. What it does do though, is list what we will and will not allow governments to do. It’s up to us to hold them accountable and, if need be, punish them for their misbehavior.
So, this September 17th let us remember the Constitution our Founding Fathers created. Let us also remember the liberties that our predecessors purchased for us, often with their own blood. And let us vow to preserve as many of those liberties for our children and grandchildren as we can. Let September 17th not just be another date on the calendar. Let it instead be the day we renew our efforts to make this a more perfect union.
