A Republic If You Can Keep It…

On September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House, 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the new United States Constitution.  The signing was a formal gesture of unity to assure the public that their representatives were satisfied with the document.  For only when ratified by 9 of the 13 states would the Constitution become law.

As he was leaving the Convention, delegate Benjamin Franklin was approached by a prominent, politically active socialite and friend, Mrs. Elizabeth Willing Powel, who asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin famously answered, “A republic if you can keep it.”

Four months earlier, on May 25, 55 delegates, from every state except Rhode Island, assembled in Philadelphia. The framers formulated a blueprint detailing how to structure a strong central government with designated responsibilities and the authority to fulfill them, develop rights and obligations specific to the states, and protect individuals’ rights and freedoms as well.

Through that spring and summer, they wrote, debated, rewrote, argued, haggled, and yelled at each other.  They kept at it, determined to get it right because - only four years after winning the eight-year War of Independence - America’s fragile democracy was on the brink of collapse. The Founding Fathers believed that the inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation (our first Constitution) were the cause.   

The Articles renamed the 13 colonies the United States of America.  They were anything but.  The states were empowered as independent fiefdoms free to govern, conduct business, and in all ways operate as they saw fit.  The central government had neither the authority nor power to challenge them because the architects of the Articles feared that a strong federal government could become an imperialistic autocracy. Consequently, states ruled, and among them, competition reigned at the expense of the Union the delegates were now tasked to save.

So, delegates struggled, negotiated, wrangled, and compromised, urged on by Franklin. He reminded his colleagues that no one, including himself, was 100 percent satisfied with the new Constitution as written.  Slavery was not addressed.  The people’s Bill of Rights was not included. But Franklin exhorted them to accept the document for the good that it would bring and for being “so near to perfection” given the vast differences of opinions and perspectives of its authors.      

Several states balked and refused to ratify the Constitution without a strong, comprehensive, and detailed people’s Bill of Rights. Although committed to individual freedoms, James Madison - who had a key role in writing the Constitution - had not thought a federal Bill of Rights would be effective or immediately necessary.  He preferred a Bill of RIghts for each state. After speaking to colleagues and listening to the citizens’ concerns, he changed his mind.  

He and other delegates promised that if the Constitution were ratified, a Bill of Rights would quickly be added to it.  People took him at his word, and Madison repeated his promise when he ran for election to the First Congress in 1788.  As a member of the Congress, on June 8, 1789, he introduced the amendments that would become the Bill of Rights, which he and others then worked doggedly to pass.

The U.S. Constitution is not written in stone.  It is a living document that may need revisions and updates occasionally with amendments that protect freedoms, right wrongs, or reflect changing times. Our quest for a more perfect union is through good deeds and good values that best serve the people. That is why we have the Bill of Rights and the 17 amendments that have followed so far.

Our historical ancestors gave us more than the Constitution.  They showed us what it means to put country first.  They proved that we are stronger and better together than we are separately.  

Yet, today, we are again a politically dysfunctional country.  For all the good and well-intentioned people who serve honorably in the House and Senate, there are too many - in both parties - who ignore the will of the people who elected them. Instead, they advance their own agendas and biases.  The Supreme Court does likewise through a majority that is unethical, corrupt, and makes mockery of the words “Equal Justice Under Law” inscribed over the Court’s main entrance.    

Two hundred thirty-seven years ago, Franklin told a friend that we had, “A republic if you can keep it.”  As the 2024 elections near, that “if” is a red flag.   

At the same Convention, Franklin also said this: “In free government, the rulers are the servants, and the people their superiors and sovereigns.” 

Men and women of good will - Republicans and Democrats both - can always reason together.  We just have to elect them and keep our republic safe.  We have that power.  And if your public servants are not doing what you hired them to do, vote them out.  We have that power, too.

Answer to Unpacking Education No. 32, Question of the Day:

In his first inaugural address, the new Governor of California told his audience: “Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction.” He then urged that we never take our freedom for granted but appreciate and defend it continuously. The correct answer is c) Ronald Reagan who delivered that message on January 5, 1967.  It resonates loudly in these times.