The Constitution was the result of several hot months of deliberation and debate in 1787 in Philadelphia among the framers who were lawyers, merchants, soldiers, planters and the like — anything but career politicians. The Constitution was formed, among other purposes, to make the people’s liberties secure, not only as against foreign attack but against oppression by their own government. Our rights as people of the United States were not granted in the Constitution but per the Declaration Of Independence, endowed by our creator. The rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These rights are unalienable meaning impossible to take away or give up.
Remembering the many abuses under the King of England, those opposed to a strong federal government were known as Anti-federalists, their opponents were the Federalists. This divide remains today with the left-wing and right-wing ideologies, centering around the rights of the individual vs. the power of the government. The left believes that society can best be served by an expanded role of government. The conservatives on the right side want the power of the government minimized. To see where you may side in this debate, ask yourself, if you wanted to remodel your home or start a new business would you want a bigger, more powerful government, or not?
The Constitution became the blueprint for our American government, a constitutional republic where representation takes place by the consent of the people. We are not a democracy. A democracy rules by majority, often mob rule. The Constitution has lasted nearly 230 years and has been the model for many other countries, yet few if any retain the rights and freedoms of the individual protected in our U.S. Constitution.
This blueprint gave us both a vertical structure with the three branches of government, and a horizontal structure with checks and balances between the branches. The framers intended the federal legislative branch, as the representatives of the people, to be the strongest branch of government. Nearly 50 percent of the entire Constitution is devoted to Article I containing everything about the legislative branch. The executive branch under Article II is headed by the president who approves and carries out the laws passed by the legislative branch, and the judicial branch under Article III was intended to be the weakest and is the shortest of the three Articles because it is the furthest from the people. The order of strength is evident by the sequence in which the Constitution discusses each branch. Each branch of the government has specific enumerated powers which will be investigated in future columns. But it’s important to know they are not co-equal branches. A good illustration of this is the fact that Congress can remove officers from the other two branches, but neither of the other two can touch a member of the Congress.
As citizens of a free republic it is our duty to preserve it. If you would like to take a free online course on the U. S. Constitution go to: www.freeconstitutioncourse.com.
Mikie Kerr is the founder of a volunteer group which distributes free pocket Constitutions by partnering with small businesses on the island who make them available to their customers and clients. She lives in Waikoloa and writes a monthly column for West Hawaii Today.