The Foundations of America
What is the ideal country we would like to live in??
This is the exact question our Founding Fathers asked. After much discussion, thought and prayer, they came up with a new form of government. The values and fundamental principles put into place made the new country of the United States of America unique in the world and caused millions of immigrants to come here because they wanted to become proud Americans and be part of the American Dream. If America were to lose these foundational principles, everything that made America, and American culture special and unique in the world will be lost.
History shows that all great nations have destroyed themselves. Countries rise, peak and then go into gradual decline. While America is still a great place to live, it is not what it should be. After over 200 years, America IS in decline. The signs are everywhere. Young people have no clue how much this country has changed because the present is all they know.
“...But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government;....” James Madison, Fourth President of the United States(1)
Writing the Constitution of the United States
When the 55 Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia in 1787, they recognized the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, which united the colonies from 1781 to 1789. The task facing the Founding Fathers, true visionaries, was unprecedented in world history. The Founders recognized that an excess of power leads to despotism, while too little authority leads to anarchy, and both eventually to the ruin of the people. Throughout history, it has proven impossible to establish a lasting free society capable of staying on that thin line that separates anarchy from overpowering government.
The Founders hoped for as close to a utopian society as possible - understanding the collective good will of the citizens would determine how close we get. The people of colonial America wanted the same things nearly everybody everywhere has ever wanted - a decent, safe place to live, ability to support your family and enjoy life. The Declaration of Independence stated that people “... are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness... ”
Everything they accomplished was for YOU.
Solving the two dilemmas of self government
1) set up the government and laws to govern a free society and
2) how to maintain social order and morality in a free society.
The Founding Fathers argued and prayed often, and in less than 4 months, wrote the finest founding document in history. Completed on September 17, 1787, the Constitution established a republic, and set forth the responsibilities of the federal government. The Constitution created a unique framework of checks and balances under which the citizenry were to work out the never ending issues that would arise as the years went by. The Founders then placed the future of the nation into the hands of voters.
Laws to Govern a Free Society
The Constitution was designed to deal with the failings of the human condition. The Founders had many fears of the excesses of human nature, notably the desire to control and accumulate ever increasing power. The Founders were well aware of the historical record on freedom. This is why the voting class was limited at first and then gradually expanded. This is why they put so many checks and balances into the system. The system was designed to bring about change slowly. The Founders wanted change to be based on reasoned thought, rather then impulse.
The Constitution established 3 separate branches of government, the executive, legislative and judicial. Each branch of government was to be a counterbalance against the other two and keep one branch of government from becoming too powerful. The legislative and executive are subject to the will of the people through elections. Until 1913, each state’s legislature appointed Senators. The judiciary would not be subject to elections in the hope that they would interpret the Constitution impartially and be free from political pressure.
The creation of the Senate was the result of a compromise made at the Constitutional Convention to satisfy the small population states who feared the populus states would run the country for themselves and the smaller population states would have no say. So the House of Representative was based on population, while there would be two Senators from each state regardless of population. This way there had to be consensus between large population states and small population states when legislation was passed in Congress. For these same reasons, the Electoral College is used to determine who wins the Presidency, instead of the popular vote.
The Founders strongly believed that government should be ruled by laws and not by men. The Founders considered a Republic a much more stable form of government because a democracy is essentially mob rule. In a Republic, government power is designed to protect the rights of individuals and keep the majority from abusing the minority.
In all countries, there is a line between individual beliefs and government laws that everyone is expected to follow. The Founders gave Americans more individual freedom then any other nation in the world, so we could all live our lives as we see fit. However, in areas where there needs to be established governmental policy, the Founders wanted majority rule within the Constitutional framework. Agreeing to disagree is essential in a free society.
America was the first country where power went from the people up to the government. In other societies, the relationship between government and the people was usually adversarial - us versus them. In America, the government was the people.
2) Maintaining social order and morality in a free society.
While the Constitution dealt primarily with the actual structure of the new American republic, the best system in the world will only work as good as the collective goodwill of the people. The Founders knew that freedom is a double edged sword. It can be incredibly fulfilling or unbelievably destructive - individually and as a nation. A moral, law abiding society comes first, freedom comes as a result. FREEDOM AND MORALITY ARE CO-DEPENDENT AND INSEPARABLE. It is impossible to have a functional free society where a significant percentage of society is amoral. Freedom without morality produces anarchy.
On what ideals would the citizens determine right and wrong? The Founders strongly believed that the moral code, self discipline and work ethic of the Christian Faith was absolutely vital for the Republic to endure and should be promoted by the government. The Founders wanted Christian beliefs to be the basis for law and morality in America. Yet they opposed establishing a theocracy or an official government sponsored religion like most other countries around the world. The Founding Fathers knew that it was not only counterproductive, but dangerous to establish a state religion.
So the Founders put the burden of maintaining a civil society on the people. They believed that since the average person would have the most to lose if morals and social order broke down, it would be in the peoples self interest to maintain a moral and orderly society.
Instead of the government forcing its beliefs onto society, the people would determine their own values and impose them onto themselves through their elected representatives. They were confident that Christianity would endure throughout society on its own merits as the true religion of God and the superiority of its social values. Even people who were not Christian would feel comfortable living under the stability of Christian social values and its most important doctrine - do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It was universally accepted that laws could be passed based solely on morality and the need to maintain a stable, safe society.
The American experiment in freedom succeeded because of the US Constitution and the ethics of Christianity. Free societies lose their freedoms when they lose their ethics and morals. Then more and more laws must be passed to keep society functioning. The State becomes increasingly powerful in a nation of increasing lawlessness.
The most intelligent group of men to ever assemble together gave the world a document that has been the blueprint for the constitutions for other nations around the world.
“You and I, my dear friend,” John Adams wrote in 1776, “have been sent into life at a time when the greatest lawgivers of antiquity would have wished to live. How few of the human race have ever enjoyed an opportunity of making an election of government . . . When! before the present epocha, had three millions of people full power and a fair opportunity to form and establish the wisest and happiest government that human wisdom can contrive?”
John Adams, Second President of the United States in 1776(12)
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"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground."(4) Thomas Jefferson