As I sat here writing this article, a good friend messaged me about a shooting which killed people at the 4th of July parade. I want to emphasize that Constitutional rights do not give any human the right to kill innocent people. Gun control must be put into place, as we cannot continue to have people including children be at risk of becoming the victims of injustice. This event is disturbing, but it's not the first time something like this happens. This is one case scenario in which government does need to take serious measures against crime and the tools that enable the mass murder of innocent lives. As the Preamble states, checks and balances should exist so "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty." No human can fully enjoy his or her liberty, while there is domestic disturbance. This is a challenge we all have to work at together. And I urge parents especially to please raise your children to be responsible, accountable, and provide them with a good moral blueprint. This responsibility does not start with law enforcement officers and government officials. It starts in people's homes, with their children, with families. When law enforcement and government officials are involved, that is already too late. Too much damage has already been done. Thus, this is an issue which needs attention sooner. We need to create a better future by first creating a better form of society and it starts at home, in between four walls, before it goes outside of the home and spreads into society. My heart goes out to those impacted by the horrific incident in Highland Park, IL, today, and the families and loved ones of those murdered or wounded. Those families and loved ones will never be the same again, all because of gun violence carried out by someone who climbed a ladder and started shooting at people randomly without any consciousness. This is the kind of evil our world doesn't need, even more important our nation's kids don't need.
As you go back in time to July 1st, 1776, I hope you gain a deeper appreciation of the Constitution, one of the most important historical documents of the United States, and our nation's history. The video at the end of my diary post is complimentary. To those who view it, I hope it serves to be educational or interesting. Thank you for reading my diary post.
Many of you might be familiar with the Preamble of the United States which states: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." However, not many know that this format was the result of a decision by the Committee of Style, led by Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania who considered Edmund Randolph of Virginia's preliminary draft insufficient. Here is what I want to share with you today, this 4th of July, which I consider to be of great importance. What makes American history so special is nested in the Constitution's Preamble. If there was no government and America had to start from the beginning, this very opening statement would be what would maintain the very core values that made this nation once great. This is key to preserving a government that is fair and one which is for the people.
Edmund Randolph's initial draft was rather vague. His preamble stated, "We the People of the States of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia, do ordain, declare and establish the following Constitution for the Government of Ourselves and our Posterity." However, the true hero of the Preamble was Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania. The actual version which we know today provides for six very important goals which cannot be forgotten, at first hand that it is us "the People" who create our government not that the government creates us. But the goals themselves are: "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty." Think about these goals for a moment. Don't these goals protect more the People than they do the government? Can you not see the focus on the People in these words?
Anti-Federalists, led by Patrick Henry of Virginia, criticized the opening lines of the Constitution at the Virginia ratifying convention questioning the authority of the people to choose in technicality their government putting more authority in the hands of state governments and not so much the people. His words were "Who authorized them to speak the language of We, the people, instead of We, the States? States are the characteristics and the soul of a confederation. If the states be not the agents of this compact, it must be one great, consolidated, national government, of the people of all the states." In response, Edmund Pendleton replied: "[W]ho but the people can delegate powers? Who but the people have a right to form government? Similarly, John Marshall declared that both state and federal governments derive [their] powers from the people, and each was to act according to the powers given it. Echoing these themes at the Pennsylvania Ratification Convention, James Wilson defended the 'We the People' language, arguing that all authority is derived from the people and that the Preamble merely announces the inoffensive principle that people have a right to do what they please with regard to the government." I say, thank you God for Edmund Pendleton, James Wilson, and the many like them. What would our lives look like today without them? Well, in a nutshell, I think it would mean that people could no longer choose their government, that their government would have an easier means by which to turn to tyranny, and people will have no say in the matter whatsoever. It would mean a different kind of slavery in which every man, woman, and child regardless of age, sex, color, would be controlled by their government. This is what happens when governments gain too much power and people end up without any power or voice. However, the opposite can be dangerous as well. There has to be a balance between both, a fair balance that protects the people. I pray we defend the Constitution and get this country back to its core values.
References:
Constitution Annotated. Supreme Court. Pre.2 Historical Background of the Preamble. Library of Congress.