The Foundations of America

“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?”(12)

John Adams, Second President of the United States in 1776

Writing the Constitution of the United States

When the 55 Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia in 1787, they recognized the short- comings of the Articles of Confederation, which united the colonies in 1781. 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.

Dilemmas of self government: 1) Laws to govern a free society

TheConstitutionwasdesignedtodealwiththefailingsofthehumancondition.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.

15 Foundational principles for the United States

The Foundations for the United States of America were revolutionary new ideas in the 1700s. Although many of these ideals are common in many countries around the world today, understandingwhy these ideas are so essential is the great challenge from one generation to the next in America.

1. Education was considered absolutely vital. No country in history stressed education for all like the US did. Dictators don’t want a lot of educated people around to challenge their authority. In America, an educated population was critical in a nation where voters decided who runs the country. Education was essential for individual growth and well-being as well as economic growth for the nation and raising up the next generation of leaders.

8. Freedom of Speech – The US was the first country were people could express any view they wanted. While there is the occasional desire to restrict what many would consider ‘hate speech,’ this is a very dangerous path to embark on – and would ultimately destroy our free speech rights. Everyone has a Constitutional right to peaceably assemble and express their opinion – even if it a hate group. It MUST be left to society to refute speech that is considered hateful or offensive – not the government. It is the proudest boast of our First Amendment that we protect the freedom to express what we dislike. While ‘hate’ speech is protected, threatening physical violence against others is NOT protected.

9. Freedom of the Press – The US was the first country with a totally free press. Anyone could print up anything they wanted or start a newspaper. In other countries, licenses and fees were used to control who was allowed to go into busi- ness and what information was printed. In many countries, there was no freedom of speech or of the press. The first thing any dictator does is take control of the media. As an example, Venezuela’s fascist leader Hugo Chavez used alleged violation of government regulations to take EVERY radio and TV station that had programing opposing Chavez taken off the air waves. It is much safer for freedom of speech for the market place of ideas to decide what is broadcast. It you don’t like the programing on a station, change the station.

10. The right to keep and bear Arms – the second thing any dictator does is to disarm the people – after first taking control of the media. The Founding Fathers recognized this.

11. ReligiousFreedom– The government was prohibited from establishing a state religion that everybody was expected to belong to. You could be any religion or no religion. Since Christian values were considered all important in maintaining morality, views could be expressed in any setting – private, or governmental. (Liberals who oppose free speech have effectively outlawed portions of the First Amendment)

12. Economic Freedom – Economic freedom and political freedom go hand in hand. Free enterprise uses the natural tendencies of human nature for the betterment of society by rewarding work. The British colonial system of mercantilism was designed to keep the colonies dependent on Britain. The Founding Fathers knew that socialism was a failure as it destroys individual initiative and compromises freedom. The American Republic became a unique experiment in free enterprise and unprecedented open markets.

13. Private Property – Most people today don’t understand the absolute importance of private property rights. Private property is essential for prosperity and maintenance of liberty. Owning things is the natural reward for work. Historically, when the state takes control of private property, it has resulted in dire consequences for justice and economic prosperity. If the state owns everything, they own you and the work ethic dies. Revolutions occur in countries where the people don’t own much and have little to lose by revolting.

14. TrialbyJuryandDueProcess– a jury of peers will decide guilt or innocence, not a government bureaucrat, which was common in many countries of the day. No one can be arrested or held in prison without being charged. In other countries, people would be taken away by authorities and held indefinitely without ever being charged with a crime.

15. English Language – Though the Constitution does not spell it out, it was understood from the beginning that there had to be a common language, which was English. This is why the Founders adopted the motto “E Pluribus Unum” in 1782

– “Out of many, one,” For the first 200 years, immigrants learned English and assimilated into American society. It has only been in modern times that the government has foolishly catered to non-English speaking immigrants in their native language.

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Accomplishments of the American Constitution

The American Constitution accomplished goals that had proven impossible for earlier generations anywhere in the world to figure out. Lord Acton of England, who once said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” would say of the writers of the American Constitution, “They had solved with astonishing ease and unduplicated success two prob- lems which had heretofore baffled the capacity of the most enlightened nations. They had contrived a system of federal government which prodigiously increased national power and yet respected local liberties and authorities, and they had founded it on a principle of equality without surrendering the securities of property or freedom. ” Never in any society had the importance of the individual been so firmly established and given such a priority.

America was the first country in history to be founded on a set of ideals, rather than race, ethnic makeup or religion. But to say that America is merely an ideological country would not be accurate. By the time of the Revolutionary War in 1776, the 2.5 million people of colonial America had developed a distinctly American culture, based largely on Biblical beliefs. While the ideals set forth in the Constitution were revolutionary for the rest of the world, for most Americans, it was a logical progression of governance for the new nation.

Comparing the American revolution with other revolutions

Compare the results of the American revolution with virtually every other revolution in history. In America, one group over threw another in order to promote freedom for all, and just as importantly, was able to maintain this freedom. The leaders of the American revolution sacrificed their all for the revolution to succeed. In no other na- tion in history, did a group of men so selflessly sacrifice everything for the greater good than did our Founding Fathers.

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TheFirstAmendmenttotheConstitutionoftheUnitedStates:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, orprohibitingthefreeexercisethereof; or abridg- ing the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern- ment for a redress of grievances.

Sources:

1. The Federalist Papers Number 51 (http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm)
2. Democracy in America, by Alexis De Tocqueville, published in 1835
3. John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. 1854), Vol. IX, p. 229, October 11, 1798.)
4. Letter to Colonel Carrington (27 May 1788) https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-13-02-0120
5. Common Sense, published in 1776
6. Unholy Spirits by Gary North. pub. 1986, Dominion Press. p. 158
7. President Ronald Reagan, in an address to the annual meeting of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, (30 March 1961)
8. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution by Bernard Bailyn, p56
9. University of Chicago Law Review, 3-1-1957, Review of CharlesBeardandtheConstitutionby Robert E. Brown, p596 http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3030&context=uclrev
10. http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-06-02-0135
11. https://www.poloniainstitute.net/news/polands-1926-celebration-of-american-independence/
12. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution by Bernard Bailyn, p 273

Other Sources:

Novus Ordo Seclorum, The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution by Forrest McDonald, University Press of Kansas (1985)

The United States Constitution

The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen, published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, 1981 First Principles: Self-Governance In An Open Society, Black Sheep Farm Press (2008)

₈ November 2018