News Home
"A Republic, if you can keep it."
Washington, D.C.,
September 17, 2013
|
Team Foxx
Today is the 226th anniversary of the adoption of our U.S. Constitution by the delegates to Philadelphia’s Constitutional Convention. Written on only four pages and divided into seven original articles, the delegates achieved arguably the most difficult step in any revolution: creating a framework to order and preserve the freedom they fought a revolution to win. Revolutions are stitched throughout the fabric of human history, but the miracle of the American Revolution is that 237 later, we are still self-governing – 224 years of those upon the foundation of our original United States Constitution, the world’s longest surviving written charter of government.
It would be hard to find an American that doesn’t know the birth date of our great nation. July 4, 1776 is perhaps one of the most well-known dates in modern history. And while Independence Day might be more popular than September 17, we can’t help but wonder if today we celebrate the reason why “the Star Spangled Banner yet waves o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
Today is the 226th anniversary of the adoption of our U.S. Constitution by the delegates to Philadelphia’s Constitutional Convention. Written on only four pages and divided into seven original articles, the delegates achieved arguably the most difficult step in any revolution: creating a framework to order and preserve the freedom they fought a revolution to win. Revolutions are stitched throughout the fabric of human history, but the miracle of the American Revolution is that 237 later, we are still self-governing – 224 years of those upon the foundation of our original United States Constitution, the world’s longest surviving written charter of government.
Upon emerging from Independence Hall after the lengthy convention deliberations had finished, Benjamin Franklin was approached by a woman who asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got - a Republic or a Monarchy?” In his quick-witted wisdom he replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
How to maintain our freedoms was the question the framers answered through the creation of our Constitution. If we want to keep them, it is up to us – the consenting governed. Mr. Franklin had a thought or two about this as well, writing that “only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.” As citizens, we must maintain a strong moral character, a will to work, a belief in opportunity, and a zeal for the rule of law if we are to steward well the Republic we were entrusted.
The Constitution of the United States of America was written by Americans and for Americans. It has helped keep us free since our present constitutional government took root in 1789. We must respect it - all of it - if we are to preserve liberty for years to come.
In honor of Constitution Day, take a moment to read our U.S. Constitution.
|
