Constitutional Amendments

As you know our U.S. Constitution has 27 Amendments. The process of Amending the Constitution is explained in Article V of the document itself.

The 27th , and last approved Amendment, was submitted by James Madison along with what became our Bill of Rights. It’s a good one and it finally received approval of Michigan, the last needed state, on May 7, 1992. It says that Congress can’t give itself a raise unless a national vote has intervened before one can be granted. Why didn’t that pass with the other 10 Amendments of the Bill of Rights? I dunno. read more

Founding Fathers and American Heroes

French Huguenots, Apollos Rivoire and Deborah Hitchborn, made their way to Boston, Massachusetts, after being determined to leave France. They may have been in some kind of trouble. In America, Apollos Rivoire changed his name to Paul Rivoire, and then later to Paul Revere. Deborah became Deborah Revere. They had a son and named him Paul Revere. You may have heard of him.

Yes he is the one who rode with the warning that the Redcoats are coming. But the real history is not quite like the famous poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Paul never even made it all the way to Concord. But the poem’s a beauty anyway, and we love the story. read more

Patrick Henry and the Constitution

In addition to Thomas Jefferson, another Virginian, Patrick Henry was opposed to ratification of the newly proposed Constitution. As the Constitution went around to the various States for adoption, the States held their own conventions to approve or reject it.

In the Virginia Convention, which lasted 23 days, Patrick Henry spoke in opposition on 18 of those days. One day he made 8 different speeches. And he was quite an orator, as you know from his “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech. People listened to him. However the rational arguments were on the side of fellow Virginian, James Madison. read more

Thomas Jefferson and the Constitution

Not only was John Adams not present at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, neither was Thomas Jefferson. Although Jefferson had sent his good friend, James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, trunk-loads of books about government for use in preparing for the Constitution.

Why wasn’t Jefferson there? He was in France, from where he sent those books to Madison. Why was he in France? Because he was sent there by Congress to join Benjamin Franklin and John Adams in preparing the Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary War. Adams went to England and Franklin returned home to Pennsylvania after that treaty was signed. read more

“We The People”

Today I believe the Founding Fathers are looking at our government with surprise and disbelief. The leaders of our nation seem to have forgotten that the Constitution starts out with these Words:

“We, the People . . .”

It’s not we the politicians. It’s not we the elected. It’s not we the smarter among us. It’s “We the People . . .”

Get about the people’s business!

As Will Rogers declared: “There’s no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.” read more

James Madison Advises Virtue

James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, wrote a message to the States complete with a dire warning that still holds true today. It’s quite a long sentence and paragraph (I took the liberty of dividing the paragraph in two for easier reading). Nevertheless, I’m going to repeat it here for you:

“The citizens of the United States are responsible for the greatest trust ever confided to a political society. If justice, good faith, honor, gratitude and all the other qualities which ennoble (mark the word, ennoble) the character of a nation and fulfill the ends of government be the fruits of our establishments, the cause of liberty will acquire a dignity and luster, which it has never yet enjoyed, and an example will be set, which cannot but have the most favorable influence on the rights of Mankind. read more

The Bible Words Are Like Music

Yesterday’s post reminded me of a conversation between Schroeder and Lucy in a Charles Schultz Peanuts cartoon. Schroeder is, of course playing his toy piano. Lucy, leaning on it asks: “I have an historical question for you.”

Then she asks: “Did Beethoven ever have any beautiful girls nearby while he was practicing his piano?”

Schroeder replies: “No. I don’t think Beethoven ever had any nutty females hanging on his piano while he was trying to practice!” read more

The Founding Fathers and Religion

In the early years of our American nation, religion fared very well even in the Supreme Court. Joseph Story (1779-1845) served as a Supreme Court Justice at the age of 32. He was the youngest to serve in that position. Her served from 1811 to 1845. He wrote several remarkable decisions of the High Court. The most memorable was the Amistad decision (now a movie), which he read out loud in the Court.

Here is a remarkable statement that he made during his tenure on the Court.

“The promulgation of the great doctrines of religion, the being, and attributes, and providence of one Almighty God; the responsibility to Him for all our actions, founded upon moral freedom and accountability; a future state of rewards and punishments; the cultivation of all the personal, social, and benevolent virtues;–these never can be a matter of indifference in any ordered community. It is indeed difficult to conceive, how any civilized society can well exist without them.” read more

The Founding Fathers and Education

The Founding Fathers agreed that education was the most important way to teach virtue, shape character, and mold citizens. The “best means of forming manly, virtuous, happy people, will be found in the right education of youth.” And as George Washington wrote: “Without this foundation, every other means, in my opinion must fail.”

Moral education should begin when the first habits and manners were established. That’s why they supported public education. “Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom. The education here intended is not merely that of the children of the rich and noble, but of every rank and class of people, down to the lowest and poorest. It is not too much to say that schools for the education of all should be placed at convenient distances, and maintained at the public expense.” (John Adams, “A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America”, a two volume work which was next to the Bible the most often quoted work at the Constitutional Convention.) read more

John Adams and Faith

The Founding Fathers were men of wonderful and noble faith. You only have to read a selection of some of their writings to get a glimpse into this. John Adams was one who believed that the new nation should be an example of piety and righteousness to the world. He relied on Providence for help in his career. Providence was a popular appellation for the Heavenly Father out of respect for his name.

John Adams wrote in a letter to Abigail: “But I must submit all my Hopes and Fears, to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as faith may be, I firmly believe.” read more