On this day in 1787, in Philadelphia, the greatest document written in the last several centuries was completed.
What began as a rewrite of the Articles of Confederation became the Constitution of the United States.
It’s a document that guarantees our liberties. It lays out the duties and responsibilities of the three branches of our federal government, and it establishes the relationship between the states. And, as amended, it establishes the rights guaranteed to the individuals on which the government may not infringe.
I am of the camp that feels that not enough people have read the Constitution — including many who have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution.
At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, delegate Benjamin Franklin (the dude on the $100 bill, for you on the left) was asked, “What have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”
To which Franklin replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
Go read the Constitution. Then make it your mission to help us keep a republic.
I’m going to wait for the movie to come out.
The United States Constitution was written with the knowledge that thousands of men had fought and died to give the founders a chance to write that document. Perhaps that’s why it’s somewhat poignant that the Battle of Antietam was fought today in 1862.
The far left have never seen a hundred dollar bill. Wealth being evil and all
If you ask politicians about the Constitution the response is “oh you mean that old peice of paper that I just wiped me bum with.”
Thanks for these thoughts, Basil. Already on this task like white on rice, myself. And incidentally, I don’t care how many boneheads think that thoroughly innocuous metaphor is racist. I’m going to be busily taking the English language back right along with the Constitution.
That picture looks pretty old; why do liberals think it’s alive?
Basil, your contention that “as amended, it establishes the rights guaranteed to the individuals on which the government may not infringe” is not quite correct. The US Constitution is unique among all other similar documents in that it limits what the government can do, not what they can’t do. The government has no right to infringe on any rights, whether they are listed in the Constitution or not. That is why a Bill of Rights was not originally included in the Constitution. The Founders, for the most part, thought it was unnecessary. The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties (and note to the MSM, it was Thomas Paine and Alexander Hamilton, not your messiah that first called it that!) so any power not granted, could not be exercised. This was in contrast with the English Bill of Rights, which did in fact “establish[] the rights guaranteed to the individuals on which the government may not infringe.”
The U.S. Constitution is the oldest such document still in use. For a relatively young country, that is saying something. The document is so well written, that it has only been amended 27 times in 221 years. many of which were unnecessary.
The 16, 17, 18, 21, 23, 25, and 27 amendments should have never occured. Especially the 27. Congress should never have been paid.
Call me when we start prosecuting Bill of Rights violations as treason.