Our Constitution may be the most brilliant, document ever created. There were 13 sovereign states, hundreds of autonomous communities; the people spoke multiple languages: English, German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Yiddish (The Plimouth Plantation alone had nineteen dialects). There were multiple religions, many of which were hostile to others. Some: Quakers, Jews, Catholics and Musselmen (Muslims) were distrusted. The relationship with the original inhabitants was unsettled to say the least. To make matters complicated the new nation was over 1,000 miles long. A republic had never been tried on that scale. There were large empires, but held together by guns, gallows and steel.
The Declaration of Independence said “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” but 18% were slaves and half were indentured, virtual slaves for half their life.
Yet on 123 hot summer days of 1787, a convention crafted a plan to bring multiple disparate cultures into one nation. Most people considered themselves citizens of only their state. In the South many still do. The small states feared being overwhelmed by the large ones. The great compromise was a bicameral legislature where the small states were made equal to the large states in the Senate, but the populations were equally represented in the house. In those days the state population ratio was already eight to one.
Another compromise was counting slaves. Slave owners wanted slaves counted, but not voting, thus the absurdity of counting slaves as three-fifths. In many states, only land owners could vote! Another compromise was convoluted language that ended the importation of African slaves after 1808. Binding a new nation together was more urgent than taking a stand on slavery.
Why the Electoral College? It was a good idea when it took a week or more to get a message from Georgia to New York; most people lived their entire life within 20 miles of where they were born. The vast majority of voters could not know national candidates, but they knew prominent locals. They could send their most respected neighbors to a convention, The Electoral College, to recruit a president. It encouraged electors to take their time and get it right. By the same practicality, Senators were originally chosen by the state legislatures. That evolved into the system we have today with our faster communication. It’s an imperfect system. Frankly, it did not work perfectly then or now, but no one has actually implemented a better one. Prime ministers and parliaments on the European model seem to gridlock or fall apart regularly. The ingenious system of checks and balances with three coequal branches of government has held us together for longer than any other nation, ever. The branches respect one another. Archaeology suggests ancient cultures may have lasted longer, but their functional governments could change with each new monarch.
“No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Though not always understood is incredibly important. Nations have been torn apart by religious differences and zealots in power have used religion to manipulate or terrorize citizens.
The learned founders were in many ways ahead of their time, astute enough to realize that the world was changing more rapidly than ever before. Only God was infallible. A way to update was included, but caution about passing fads made the amendment process tedious. One early concern was that basic rights were not adequately enumerated. The Bill of Rights was added in 1791. It was not quite the first, but it was the first that was written to apply equally to all, no “consistent with their class” disclaimers. The First Amendment reinforced the separation of religion from government and government from religion. The bill listed rights that seemed obvious, but just in case included “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” In other words, you are entitled to rights that do not affect another except if the Constitution says you do not.
Some things to be thankful for in a new year.
Ken Obenski is a forensic engineer, now safety and freedom advocate in South Kona. Send feedback to obenskik@gmail.com