SCPC celebrates Constitution Day

Today we celebrate Constitution Day. On September 17, 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the United States Constitution in Philadelphia.

Among them were four South Carolinians: Thomas Heyward, Jr., Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge, and Thomas Lynch, Jr. These men and the other state delegates created the greatest governmental structure the world had ever seen, and has yet to be surpassed.

While we've been celebrating the 250th birthday of our nation’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence, let us not forget to celebrate our government’s founding document, the Constitution. The Declaration proclaimed our principles; the Constitution put them into practice.

The genius of the Constitution is its balance of powers between three branches and between two legislative bodies of Congress. As stated by James Madison in Federalist 51, "ambition made to counteract ambition."

Our Constitution guarantees a limited federal government, with the goal of empowering the people and states, as enumerated by the 9th and 10th amendments.

Some wish to argue about the necessity of George Mason's demand for the Bill of Rights - namely, whether the rights spelled out are natural (that is rights that predate government and therefore do not depend on being reiterated in a written document) or whether their enumeration in the Constitution is necessary because rights are bestowed by a benevolent government (and therefore may be abolished by a miserly one). These rights are natural but require protection in the Constitution to ensure that rogue bureaucrats, politicians, and judges do not trample upon them.

Not every clause of our Constitution was perfect, but in the delegate’s wisdom, they created an amendment process that has allowed our nation to hew closer to our nation's first “promissory note” - the Declaration of Independence.

At the Policy Council, we are particularly thankful for the First Amendment of the Constitution, which allows us the ability to speak freely and to petition our government for a redress of grievances.

We owe an eternal debt of gratitude to those who came before us and bestowed upon our nation this enduring structure of government. As stewards of this inheritance, it is our duty to educate the next generation so that they might continue the great American experiment.