Degrading the United States Constitution seems to be
the latest fad in our country. Most
recently, in a debate with author Ben Shapiro, British journalist Piers Morgan
attacked the Constitution and called it a “little book.” Morgan lives and works in the United States
but is clearly unaware that the United States Constitution is not a “little
book” but the supreme law of the land.
Morgan is not alone in his berating of the Constitution; the current
administration continuously tries to bend the law to its will at every
opportunity. The latest attack against
the Second Amendment is hardly a response to a new situation but an outcome of
years of planning to eradicate the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. Ironically, those attacking the Second
Amendment unhesitatingly hide behind the First Amendment to cover their
disparaging remarks about the same Constitution they despise. For people such as Morgan, clearly unfamiliar
with United States history, a short lesson on the Constitution is in order.
On May 14, 1787, the Federal Convention met at the
Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The
plan was to correct errors in the loosely tied Articles of the Confederation. By June, it was evident that the Articles of
Confederation was incapable of supporting the form of government required by
the new Republic. Hence, the delegates
worked methodically to create an entirely new type of document that represented
the co-operation of all.
Lest someone feel the process involved in writing
the Constitution and ratification was an easy one, a few points are worth
noting. To begin with, the delegates to
the Convention arrived in Philadelphia under the steady onslaught of daily rain. Unfortunately, far from cooling the city, the
rain simply added in making it more humid and unbearable. It may seem a minor problem to us today because
of the advent of air-conditioning but for delegates of the Constitutional Convention,
the heat, humidity, and flies alone created a nettlesome atmosphere often
leading to escalated tensions in the meetings.
Despite the heat, 55 of the appointed 74 delegates arrived
in Philadelphia. Many of them remained
in the city, the others traveled back and forth from their respective states to
attend the sessions. Yes, it required
more than one session because they did not automatically agree on all terms of
the Constitution. Indeed, it took four
long months to convince enough of the delegates to sign the Constitution. The opposition was heavy from the
beginning. Alexander Hamilton, for
example, arrived from the dissenting state of New York straddled with two other
delegates, both anti-federalists. Many
of them favored one possibility over another and it would take several gruesome
hours daily to convince all to agree upon one resolution. For instance, James Madison and George
Washington favored the Virginia Plan that called for a bicameral legislative
branch, an executive branch led by a single person, and a judicial branch
headed by a supreme court. Others such
as Benjamin Franklin, John Lansing and William Paterson backed the New Jersey
Plan that suggested a unicameral legislative branch, and an executive council. After giving an uninterrupted six-hour long
speech on an alternative plan, Hamilton retired to New York, leaving the
delegates behind with a milder opinion of the Virginia Plan.
Even after Hamilton’s grandiose speech, far from
reaching common ground immediately, the delegates fought over the specifics and
only came to an agreement on September 17, 1787 to sign the new Constitution. The signatures secured a new Constitution at
the convention but it still needed ratification to become law. Anti-federalists such as Patrick Henry and George
Clinton worked diligently to undermine the ratification process. In response, Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay fired
away in support of ratification of the Constitution in a series of essays and articles
noted for the magnitude of their literary and political beauty. The
Federalist Papers have long become a masterpiece in political discourse and
should be on the bookshelf of every American citizen. The final ratified Constitution included a Bill
of Rights that carefully laid out the rights of individuals without which we
may never have had the final product we see today.
The Constitution stands as the lifeblood of our
great nation. To undermine its authority
is to undermine the intelligence, wisdom, hard work, dedication, and sacrifices
of the Founders who worked against all odds to create a law to safeguard the
natural rights of people. Therefore, We the People must respect the
Constitution for through its provisions our rights remain protected against
those who tread upon us. It is our duty
as Americans and patriots to honor the supreme law of our land and to correct
those who ridicule it or try to minimize its relevance. It is true that we no longer live in the
eighteenth century but our Founding Fathers had the foresight to devise the Constitution
to last beyond their time and for over 200 years, it has done so remarkably
well.
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