The Making Of America Paper

The Foundation of America By Justin Storm

Introduction More than 200 years ago, in the year 1776, thirteen American colonies declared independence from, as the founders described it, “an absolute Tyranny” that was administered and executed by King George III. Numerous British “injuries and usurpations” on the American people prompted the free thinking, strong willed immigrant citizens to declare and fight for their independence for the next eight years (1776-1783). The fight was an arduous one. Many battles were won and lost on each side. Had certain, seemingly random, occurrences favored the British forces, America would have dissipated into renewed bondage and its great history would likely have been altered into mediocrity. Cornwallis, who led the British troops at Yorktown during what is considered the battle that ended the war, summed it well when he “expostulated that it even looked like God was on Washington’s side” (pg. 104). Washington recounted and affirmed numerous events where divine providence had protected him in war. The people on this continent were preserved and liberated to carry out a great work. Liberation led to freedom but history, at that time, proved that freedom rarely leads to sustained happiness and security. In fact, the founders identified only two nations in the history of mankind that were able to provide “certain unalienable Rights… (of) Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”(Declaration of Independence) for a sustained period of time. It was the founders’ mission to resurrect, what Thomas Jefferson called, the “ancient principles” to establish a republic of, for, and by the people; a republic that has blessed this and hundreds of other countries for the past two hundred years. The purpose of this paper is for the reader to understand the governmental principles and structure found in the U.S. constitution that led to the greatest nation on earth.

Constitutional Convention During the revolutionary war the United States of America adopted what was known as the “Articles of Confederation” to govern the birth of our nation. It was evident by the end of this war that the articles were incapable of preserving the country’s freedom. The articles themselves nearly forfeited the colonies to the British because of its inability to facilitate quick decisions, raise wartime funds, and establish a synergetic relationship between the states. The U.S. troops, who were severely mistreated during the war and not financially compensated as promised, were so dissatisfied with the Articles of Confederation that they proposed, and almost forced, a military based government with George Washington as King (King George I). Had it not been for Washington’s wisdom and humility the proposed

monarchy would have likely displaced the birth and reality of the nation we enjoy today. With the threat of a monarchy subsiding and anarchy looming over the states, Congress knew that revisions to the Articles of Confederation were immediately required. The Constitutional Convention or “The Miracle at Philadelphia”, as it is called, started on May 25, 1787 (almost 11 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed). It was here that the greatest minds of the time came to debate the new governing document that would shape the nation. It is because of this convention that we venerate and celebrate the secured blessings of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness found in the U.S. Constitution.

People’s Law The founders developed a scale through which all governments were measured. At one end they identified too little government (right side) and at the other end too much government (left side). Does this sound familiar? Traditionally democrats who are known for wanting more government involvement are considered “Lefties” or “left winged” and republicans who want less governmental regulation are considered “righties” or “right winged”. The challenge and goal of the constitutional convention was to establish a government that contained the fine balance between tyranny (extreme left) and anarchy (extreme right). The founders despised tyranny but considered anarchy even worse. “They felt that the formula must provide enough government to insure order and justice but not so much government that it could abuse the people. They referred to this as the “medium point” or balanced center between anarchy and tyranny” (pg. 42 Making of America (MofA)). Ruler’s Law (Tyranny) Law (Anarchy)

People’s Law (Balanced Center)

No

The founders were well aware of the “swinging pendulum” that went from tyranny to anarchy after a revolution. This typically occurred when the suppressed people overthrow the traditional government and do so with no structure or plan in place. Without much knowledge of sound political principles the people “would soon find themselves quarreling, bickering, and eventually fighting one another” (pg. 42). The result was extreme chaos from which “a cry would gradually arise for someone to take over and restore order. Always, there seemed to be some strong man, anxious to assume command. Taking control by force he would soon have order restored, but in the process the people would be right back where they were before – under a tyrant” (pg. 42 MofA). This pendulum swing is exactly what occurred in the French revolution when the people freed themselves from a king only to recaptivate themselves under the well known menace-ruler Napoleon. Fortunately, the swinging U.S. pendulum was stopped when George Washington declined the honor of becoming King George I. In summary, everything discussed and debated

at the convention had the ultimate end of cracking the governmental code to establishing People’s Law.

Two Examples Recent history could not be dissected to find this formula. The last 700 or so years were considered dark ages and littered with examples of Ruler’s Law (Monarchy). The founders had very few successful examples of governments that contained ingredients to the balanced center. Two examples existed prior to the onset of the dark ages. Ancient Israel The first example was found among the children of Israel in the Old Testament. It was at the age of eighty that God called upon Moses to liberate the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage. Once liberated and traveling in the wilderness the population was estimated to be roughly 3 Million (pg. 49 MofA). Interestingly, Moses had been trained in Ruler’s law upward of forty years at Pharaoh’s palace. Now he faced the same dilemma the founders faced: what system of government did God want his people to have? Moses’ first attempt was to mimic Pharaoh’s government by putting himself as the ruler over 600,000 households. It is recorded that “…the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.” (Exodus 18:13). Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, visited the chosen people and observed Moses’ struggle to attend to matters both great and small and “retire to his tent at night in total exhaustion” (pg. 49). “And when [Jehtro] saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee, from morning unto even?...The thing which thou doest is not good” (Exodus 18:13-16). Jethro then instructed him on a structure that would ease his burden and allow the people to rule.

Jethro’s Plan The people were to “take” men known for their wisdom and understanding and bring them before Moses for final ratification as rulers and judges. Over time the system of government began to take shape with numerous layers of communities each led by elected leaders. The communities were layered very much like a state is today with towns and cities, counties, and states. In addition to the elected leaders another permanent council of seventy was also put in place to contribute to the administrative and legislative affairs of the people. The burden no longer rested with Moses but was shared among the people. See below for detailed diagram on Israelite government:

Anglo-Saxon The recorded beginnings of the Anglo-Saxons are traced to land near the Black Sea in first century B.C. and from there spread all across Northern Europe. They were known for being the best organized and governed people of their day. They conquered and intermarried with the royal families of Northern Europe enabling them to rule after their own customs and not after the monarch tradition. In fact, the island of Britain had its name changed under their rule to England (Anglo-land or Engel-land). Their system of government very much resembled that of ancient Israel. Skousen wrote: “Many have thought the Yinglings, or Anglo-Saxons, included a branch of the ancient Israelites because they came from the territory of the Black Sea (where the Ten Tribes disappeared), and because they preserved the same unique institutes of government as those which were given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. But whether

related or not, there is certainly irrefutable evidence of a cross-fertilization of laws and cultural values between these two peoples” (pg. 55). The similarities between the children of Israel and Anglo Saxons are as follows: 1) They considered themselves a commonwealth of freemen 2) They organized themselves into units identical to those of the Israelites. a. The head of 10 families was called a tithing-man b. The head of 50 families became an obscure office but may have been a vil-man, or head of village c. The head of 100 families was called the hundred man d. The head of 1,000 families was called the eolderman, later shortened to earl. The territory occupied by 1,000 families was called a shire, and the administrative assistant to the earl was called the “shire reef.” We pronounce it sheriff. 3) All laws, as well as the election of leaders, had to be by the common consent of the people. 4) Authority granted to a chieftain in time of war was extremely limited and was taken away from him as soon as the emergency had passed. 5) Their system of justice was based on payment of damages to the victim rather than calling, is a crime against the whole people. These and many other Anglo-based examples are what Thomas Jefferson referred to as the “ancient principles” and came as a breath of fresh air when comparing it to existing forms of government. These guidelines were an important ingredient as the founders tried to develop the success formula for these newly formed United States. In fact, their influence was so instrumental to the organization of the U.S. government that Thomas Jefferson proposed to have the below symbols on the U.S. seal.

Instead the founders landed on the seals that we recognize below:

Organizing According to the Ancient Principles Vertical Separation of Powers

With these two governments before them the founders had the challenge to organize and apply these principles to 18th century America. The obvious organizational structure that the founders needed to mimic was the pyramid approach as depicted in the children of Israel diagram. This grouping process and assigning responsibilities to each group is what they referred to as the vertical separation of powers. The decided upon separation of powers is as follows: 1.

The Individual – has the right and responsibility to solve most problems as it relates to work, play associations, education, etc.

2. The Family – founders considered this to be the most important unit of organized society. It has an inescapable responsibility in the conduct, education, and religious training of their children. They were to raise morally competent, self-sustaining adults. 3. The Community – responsibility to provide roads, schools, water, police protection, city courts, etc. They have power to tax to provide these services. 4. The County – responsibility of prosecuting serious crimes, secure long-term jail (although less than a year), county roads, bridges, and drainage systems; providing rural schools, police services, keeping records, conducting elections, caring for the needy and protecting public health. 5. The State – has the authority to tax, regulate commerce, establish courts, define crime and prescribe punishment, establish and maintain public schools, build roads and bridges, pass laws to protect the health, safety, and morals of its people. Although states can only intervene where public morality is involved such as liquor, gambling, drugs, and prostitution. The state is responsible in defining what public morality is. They are set up to be a protection of the will of the people. 6. National Government – Powers allocated to national government were carefully enumerated in the constitution. They include foreign affairs, war, federal taxes, bankruptcy laws, interstate commerce, federal lands and property, federal finance, coining of money, fixing weights and measures, post offices, federal courts, crime on the high seas or violations of the law of nations. The Tenth Amendment was created to remind national government that it had no authority in any area not specifically described in the Constitution. Government Structure After grouping, the founders now needed to develop a government that would facilitate and secure people’s law. This was perhaps the most challenging part. The founders instilled several checks and balances to avoid the government leaning too

far to the left or right of the balanced center. Skousen describes this organizational structure by the diagram below:

After months of debate at the constitutional convention this structure is what they decided on and what exists today. A breakdown of the structure diagram is found below (pg. 186 MofA). Heads: Each head represents a branch of government. Note that the legislative head has two eyes. •

Central Head was the law-making or legislative function. o

One eye is the senate which was originally “designed to look at problems and legislation from the standpoint of the individual states and the property or welfare of that state”.

o

“The other eye (House of Representatives) was designed to focus on the needs of the people themselves, who are citizens of the state but have a different perspective from the state itself. Both of these eyes must agree or see “eye to eye” before a piece of legislation can be approved and sent to the President for his signature”.

•

Second head was the executive department. This is the President of the United States who operates in a clearly defined framework of power.

•

Third head is the judicial branch which is meant to be the guardian of the constitution and to interpret the original intent of the founders.

Wings: The wings represent the way in which government should solve problems.

•

Wing #1 is called the problem solving wing. The purpose of this wing is to find ways to solve the unfulfilled needs of the people.

•

Wing #2 has the charge to conserve the nation’s resources and the people’s freedom. Its purpose is to review and analyze the programs of Wing #1 with two questions: First, can we afford it and second, will the proposed plan compromise the rights and individual freedom of the people.

If either of these wings fails to perform their role then the eagle may veer towards the right (tyranny) or to the left (anarchy). For example, if the problem solving wing becomes infatuated with solving all the nations’ problems regardless of the cost and the conservation wing fails to step in and allows such to take place then the Eagle starts to sway leftward towards tyranny or ruler’s law. On the other hand, if wing #1 fails to see real problems of our country and/or wing #2 refuses to allow the government to solve problems in an effort to save money then the people will see their government’s incompetence. Such a scenario may frustrate the people to the point where they overthrow the government which forces the eagle rightward into anarchy. If both these wings can fulfill their responsibilities the eagle has great potential to sore higher than any other civilization that has ever existed. The Claws – Lastly the claws are meant to show strength and power through war (arrows) and peace (olive branch). Our purpose for war is to preserve one of our most sacred principles… peace.

Conclusion Our government did not happen by chance. The structure was not simply the ideas of 18th century men put on paper and executed. Our nation’s birth was divine. The founding fathers were raised up for the very purpose of establishing the greatest nation ever known to mankind. Thousands of hours of study by each founder contributed to the constitution and governmental structure detailed above. Our government was not the first of its kind. Past generations implemented sound principles which led to freedom and prosperity. They established building blocks referred to by Thomas Jefferson as “ancient principles”. These building blocks have given us the foundation that has led to peace, prosperity, and the pursuit of happiness for the last 200 years. Our freedom is based on the individual citizen understanding the principles of the constitution. If we cannot identify when the eagle is swaying too far to the right or too far the left then we will not have the power to prevent tyranny or anarchy. We must heed the wise adage of “A people must from time to time, refresh themselves at the well-spring of their origin, lest they perish”. Thomas Jefferson further clarified the precarious state we are in today as a nation. “If a nation expects to be ignorant

and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” (Thomas Jefferson, letter to Chas. Yancey, 1816) As a nation are we educated or ignorant? I am ignorant and am now just starting to understand why our nation is great. I hope you have gained some understanding of this truth as well through the reading of this paper.