by Mitch Cook | May 5th, 2010
Americans did have Guarantees in writing. It was called the United States Constitution. There had never been a document like it in the history of the world. This little upstart of a country that had just defeated a Superpower was now flexing its power of the pen. It had to live up to its promises. Promises made to its people on the eve of war for independence.
Recent debt and poor tax collection, along with a few small uprisings, taught the new leaders some valuable lessons. Not only did the people want rules spelled out in order to protect themselves and their interests, such a document would protect the Government as well. Already living under Articles of Confederation, Legislators met again to make amendments to the current document. After a lot of bickering and near brawls, a decision was made to write a new document; a new Constitution.
Today we look back on that time with wonderment in our eyes. We see proud men of wisdom creating a document of unparalleled importance. A nation grateful for the protections and rules all spelled out in black and white. A document to fight and die for. But, alas, that was not the case at the time. While it was true that something needed to be hammered out so that everyone would play nice in the sandbox AND so that other countries would take America as seriously as it took itself, it was NOT a sweeping success.
First and foremost in the minds of the architects of the Constitution was to keep God out of it. This was during a historical period called The Enlightenment. A humanist age, if you will. Scholarly thinking at the time was focused on self determination, not divine providence. Such language had already been used in the Declaration of Independence and that was more than enough to please the Judeo/Christian public. In fact the whole discussion and debate was done in private. There was no hint of transparency.
The Bill of Rights, what some call the most important part of the Constitution wasn’t even part of the original document. That had many legislators vexed. So much so that they asked their states not to ratify it. Ratification by thirteen states took nearly two and a half years. It only required nine states for ratification. Some states barely got enough votes for passage.
The first Un-amended Constitution simply laid out the details under which the Government should be run. Outlining the three parts of the Government (balance of powers), Electoral Rules, Additions and Amendments, States powers and limits, Judiciary, Ratification, and a sweeping statement of purpose; The Preamble.
Three years later the States ratified the Bill of Rights. There are now a total of 27 Amendments. There have been several attempts at additions and subtractions but the way the Amendment process works has kept things from getting out of hand. It is very difficult to amend the Constitution. There is only one time that an Amendment was so disastrous that it was eventually repealed by Amendment.
The Eighteenth Amendment (1919): Prohibited the manufacturing, importing, and exporting of alcoholic beverages. The Twenty-first Amendment (1933): Repeals Eighteenth Amendment. This was an example of American moralist values getting in the way of commerce. Banning the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages created a black market for criminal activity the likes America had never seen. It was an unintended consequence. We learned a valuable lesson when it came to legislating morality.
Next: Slipped or Grown
