The CAMC Seminar

Council for America My Country
"To Empower to Practise Good Citizenship"

965 Clover Court, Blue Bell, PA 19422 T: (610) 277-0149 F: (610) 277-3992 E:camc@icasinc.org


Jerry Boucher
Im Ja P. Choi
Steve S. Choi
Mary Etezady
Don Kim
Il Hwan Kim
Sang Joo Kim
Director for Systems Management
Director for Community Relations
Deputy Director for Voter Registration
Advisor
Secretary
Director for Outreach
Chairman
Tae Shik Kwon
Jae Jin Ma
Willie Pai
Choon Ki Yoo
Ae Sook Yoon
Il Joong Yoon
Director for Community Relations
Treasurer
Deputy Secretary
Deputy Director for Outreach
Director for Ageing & Elder Care
Director for Voter Registration




The CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

The Honorable Horace A. Davenport,
Senior Judge
Court of Common Pleas
Montgomery County Court House
Norristown, PA 19404

Monday, August 7, 2000

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is my pleasure to speak to you on the Constitution, the second of your series of public seminars on major landmarks, documents, and papers that shaped the character of this great country, America. I was asked to speak specifically about the Spirit of the Constitution and what it means today. This is a great document, with a history which is impossible to condense into a twenty minute talk.

By way of a little history however let me tell you that long ago -- beginning in 1620, America composed of 13 Colonies, subject to the will, authority, and whims of the King of England. The original colony, Massachusetts, came in 1620 and expanded to 13 original colonies over time.

In the beginning life was indeed difficult. England unfairly taxed the colonists and dictated that they were subject to the will of the King of England in all matters. England closed the colonies out of its West Indian trade. Spain closed the mouth of the Mississippi River, which was so essential to commerce with settlements in the west. The Continental Congress had an army of 700 men. There was a shortage of hard cash, and this lack of hard cash was one of the principal factors in causing revolt in the colonies. Life was indeed difficult. England had the colonies in an economic bind, and it was in response to that situation and the general feeling of unfairness that the Declaration of Independence was drawn up and signed in 1776. The states thereby ended 190 years of rule by representatives of the King of England.

Following the Declaration of Independence came the Articles of Confederation (1780 -- 1787). This document preceded the Constitution, but these Articles were not what were needed to knit all of the states together. But experience with the Articles certainly helped the colonists to understand what was needed. Under the Articles of Confederation, each state was sovereign power unto itself, and Congress was simply one body with each state having one vote. There was no real executive. The President was required to be a member of Congress, and his term was only for one year. There was no overall Judicial authority. Such powers as existed were exercised by Congress, and that was very limited. Among the problems faced were: how to regulate trade between the states; what about tariffs; how were taxes to be levied; what body has the power to decide what would be acceptable to all. There was a power vacuum. It was crystal clear that government under the Articles of Confederation would not work. The states -- each one -- was running in its own way without regard for any other state.

So in 1787, Representatives of the states met in Philadelphia for the sole purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. This meeting became the Constitutional Convention. It was not a large gathering, because only 55 men attended from the first session to the last session. However, that was a body of men, well fitted to produce a great document. A large majority were lawyers; most of them had had experience in governance; and nearly all of them were either men of large property interests or close to men who had such interests. All were highly educated and dedicated to take task of making the government work.

They decided that the Articles of Confederation were inadequate and moved that a national government ought to be established, consisting of a legislature, an executive department, and a judiciary branch, all co-equal. So that is what they set out to fashion. Without going into detail about the many compromises which had to be made and the great effort and brilliance which was required to chisel out the document we have today, I will say that it took four (4) months, from May to September, to complete the document. On September 17, 1787 the draft was signed by 39 members. Then it had to be approved or rejected by all states. The ratification (or approval) took until June 25, 1788.

The guiding spirit of our Constitution is:
  1. The United States Government is subject to the will of its people. The convention chose a representative type of government-a union of states in which each state surrendered some of its power to the central government, while retaining independence in local matters.
  2. All power is divided between three (3) co-equal departments: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. And, lastly, there is a built-in system of checks and balances:
    • The president may veto legislative acts
    • Congress may refuse to grant money to carry out the President's plans or policies
    • The Senate may withhold the necessary approval of the President's appointments
    • The President may be impeached for treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors
    • The Judiciary holds a check on the President and Congress by its power to declare their acts unconstitutional
    • In turn, the Judiciary is subject to check by the President and the Congress through impeachment and through their power to reduce the jurisdiction of the Judiciary.
When you condense the spirit of the Constitution down to the barest facts, they are that the government devised by members of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 was unlike any other government of the time. Part of the new government was copied from England. Some of it was based on practical governmental experience gained first under the colonial rule and later under the Continental Congress and the Articles of Confederation. The remainder was specifically designed to meet the current needs and desires of the American people.

When the Constitution first went into effect, many people were skeptical of its success. Few of its creators dreamed that it would outlive the existing governments of most other major nations. None could foresee that it would survive the westward expansion that blanketed the country, a bitter Civil War, two World Wars in the 20th century and this -- not to mention the Korean and the Viet Nam Wars, as well as other conflicts.

Today, our government, operating under the same Constitutional framework as in 1789 has become the leading democratic nation in the world. The quality of the workmanship of the framers of the Constitution and the vitality of the resulting Constitution is reflected in our form of government that has endured virtually unchanged. Although we sometimes disagree about what the delegates meant when they wrote the Constitution, our disagreement revolves around a core, and this disagreement has not lead to fragmentation of the States. The Civil War was not about becoming fragments. What we have is a frame within which to live.

Our democracy is not without flaws, but it works, and the constant challenge is to improve it and to make it work better. There are those who have recently called for a re-examination of decisions made by our courts, including the ban on school prayers, support of affirmative action, the Miranda Decision and others. Disagreement has its place, for it can lead us to discussions as to what the Founding Fathers meant. Part of being a U. S. Citizen means you can make arguments on either side of any issue.

When the delegates finished their work, they had a document 4000 words long. It is noteworthy that the original Constitution did not deal with any personal rights. It did however allow for Amendments, and interestingly the first ten Amendments make up our Bill of Rights which deal with personal rights, SUCH AS FREEDOM OF RELIGION, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM FROM UNREASONABLE SEARCHES AND SEIZURE, RIGHT TO JURY TRIAL, RIGHT TO VOTE AND OUTLAWING SLAVERY. Subsequently, 16 other Amendments were added.

If I could ask you to remember one thing, it would be this: The Constitution is a frame within which we live and manage our affairs as citizens of the United States. It has no fixed meaning; it must constantly be interpreted. That is the job of the Court. While we may disagree on the issues and interpretations, we can all agree that the framework of our government is still the best in the world. It requires of all of us diligence, patience, and the exercise of those rights and privileges that were outlined 200 years ago by 55 men in Philadelphia. It is a living document and will probably undergo further changes in the future.


(N.B. A copy of the Constitution of the United States is posted on this web site.)




CAMC is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, civic and educational organisation. It promotes ways to enhance good citizenship and its practice. It is solely supported by voluntary contributions.CAMC strives to provide public service pro bono publico in the public interest. All staff members are non-paid volunteers.






This page last updated 7/5/2001 jdb





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