Kenneth Lan: "Why the Constitution is Important to America... and to Me"
The unveiling to the world of the new Constitution of the United States, on September 17, 1787, was a defining moment in human history. The new Constitution institutionalized the Founding Fathers' core beliefs about the nature of government, as stated in Thomas Jefferson's immortal words in the Declaration of Independence that "that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Indeed, never before had any government claimed its purpose as being "to secure the blessings of liberty" to its citizens and their descendants. And never before had a democratic government been attempted on such a massive scale. The only previous examples of democratic governance in the Western world-the cities of ancient Greece and Rome-had been relatively small, homogeneous, intimate communities of a few thousand or a few dozen thousand people. The Roman Republic, in fact, seemed to prove that size and republican government were incompatible, by losing its democratic nature as it expanded through its own economic success and military conquest. The new United States encompassed over 2.5 million people, with substantially different economic interests, religious practices, and ways of life, spread over hundreds of thousands of square miles. Many thought that such a large, sparse nation would either have to be held together with an iron fist or would fall apart over time. By implementing the Constitution successfully, the United States conclusively demonstrated the practicability of a democratic republic of nearly unlimited size, thus holding out the tempting ideal of such a government for all subjects of tyrannical monarchies to aspire to. By the end of the twentieth century, the example set by the United States had changed the world forever, as country after country sought and received self-rule.
The Constitution is what Jean-Jacques Roseau would call the "social contract" of the United States-the charter of the American government. In it, the American people have authorized a government to represent them and protect their liberty and interests. To achieve this, the Constitution had to delegate to the American government sufficient power to act effectively on behalf of its citizens yet not enough power to subjugate those citizens. The Constitution, as amended, has succeeded brilliantly in that goal, providing a government stronger than its predecessor, the near-useless Articles of Confederation, yet weaker than the British king and Parliament, which had abused the large authority they had and threatened the liberties of Americans. As a result, the United States has become a shining example of how a free people can build a great nation together.
To individual citizens like me, the Constitution, as currently amended, is our charter of liberty, protecting individual citizens from oppression by the government and the minority (or even individual) from oppression by the majority of citizens. To protect individuals and minorities from the majority (or mob rule), the Constitution includes explicit limits on the government's authority. Abuses which the Founders had seen the British government commit, such as bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, and the denial of habeas corpus (in peacetime) are banned in the Constitution, as are (by amendment) unreasonable searches and seizures, forced criminal confessions, punishments without trial, and various other violations of our human rights. To further ensure the protection of these liberties, the Constitution's authors separated the legislative, executive, and judicial powers and used checks and balances to hinder the government's ability to act against its citizens. By allowing each branch of the government to stymie the others, the Constitution ensures that the government cannot act efficiently and decisively to oppress the people.
As a final safeguard, different parts of the government were made answerable to different (often conflicting) constituencies. The House of Representatives, elected frequently (every 2 years) by the people, would reflect the immediate will of the majority and block any action taken against the people at large. The Senate, whose terms were 6 years and staggered for stable membership, would take a longer-term view, blocking hasty actions attempted in a fit of passion and regulating judicial appointments. The President, elected indirectly by representatives of the people in each state, would keep Congress in check by vetoing bad policy. Finally, the federal judiciary, appointed "during good behavior" by the President with Senate approval, would defend individuals being wrongfully oppressed by the mob, their state governments, or the federal government. In this way, the common people, the states, and the individual all have recourse to some part of the federal government if their freedoms are denied. As a minority citizen, I especially appreciate having all these measures in place to protect my rights.
The Constitution has been an important document not just for America and its citizens, but also for all humanity. Since its introduction, the Constitution has served as an inspiration for the cause of liberty throughout the world. While freedom has been a rallying cry for oppressed peoples long before the Constitution's creation, the Constitution brought the concept of "freedom" into corporeal existence with a government whose express purpose was to defend it. In so doing, the Constitution conclusively proved that liberty was more than a pipe dream; that it was within the realm of human possibility. It removed what had been a worldwide psychological barrier to democracy, clearing the way for freedom not just for American colonists fighting imposed taxation, but also for European subjects already under tyranny in Europe, South American indigenous peoples fighting for independence, and colonized African and Asian peoples being emancipated in the wake of World War II. The French mobs that overran the Bastille and sent their nobles to the guillotine took as their inspiration the recently formed United States, where the common man was sovereign. The Chinese Nationalists in 1911, the Hungarians in 1956, and the Africans throughout the postWorld War 11 period all sought a stronger voice in their own destiny, having seen the possibilities for their own peoples embodied in the existence of the United States. Today, many nations throughout the world have achieved self-determination, and others continue to struggle for it.
The Constitution is important to me and to every other American as the contract under which we, the people of the United States, have delegated our sovereignty to an authorized government. Yet it is important also to the human race as the pre-eminent example of how a free people govern themselves. The United States Constitution, through its creation, operation, and its very existence, has advanced the cause of liberty to a degree unmatched by any other piece of paper in history. Much of the world owes an enormous debt of gratitude to the 55 men who helped to write our Constitution-and to the diverse millions of Americans who since then have come together to bring that document to life.
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