The Great Experiment

Our country is very young in comparison to the rest of the world’s nations. While we are only 237 years old, we are still evolving and growing; the experiment is continuing.

Our founding fathers had a dream of freedom and an idea of self-government different from that which they had known in their homeland. They believed all men were equal, that each person had rights, each person had a say in how they were governed, and each person had a right to worship as they chose, without being forced to believe or worship in a particular manner. They believed we could govern ourselves, without a monarch standing over us telling us what we could and couldn’t do, and they believed our hard work and resources should benefit us and not a faraway monarchy that felt entitled to the fruits of our labor while doing nothing to reap those fruits.

In today’s language, we were children who wanted to leave home and live on our own. How many of us have said, “When I get my own place, I’m going to do things MY way!”?

We had our “own place”. Through the Declaration of Independence, we told our “parent”, King George III, we were going to do things “our way”. King George was not happy with us; in his eyes, we were recalcitrant children who needed to be punished and sent to our room.

It wasn’t easy for us to make that break. We had to fight for our rights, we had to fight for our freedoms, for our dreams and ideas. We were fighting an army who was well-trained, well-armed, well-clothed and well-fed. We had no formal military, the weapons we had were our hunting weapons that provided food for our tables, along with whatever we could grow. All we had was a burning dream and the desire to make it come true.

We did achieve that dream. Through the Treaty of Paris, Great Britain recognized our independence. We had earned the right to govern ourselves. We were free.

What would we do with that freedom? We now had the task of designing how this new country would be run, not just for the current generation and population, but for all the generations and people to come.

The colonies had now become states, and on May 25, 1787, the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia to discuss and revise the Articles of Confederation. Twelve states were represented: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The convention ended September 17, 1787 when 39 of the 42 delegates present approved the new Constitution.

Any school child will tell you George Washington was our first president. And any school child would be wrong. Under the Articles of Confederation, we had eight presidents, the first being John Hanson (1715-1783). The remaining seven presidents under the Articles of Confederation were: Elias Boudinot (1782-1783); Thomas Mifflin (1783-1784); Richard Henry Lee (1784-1785); John Hancock (1785-1786); Nathan Gorman (1786-1787); Arthur St. Clair (1787-1788) and Cyrus Griffin (1788-1789). George Washington was the first president to serve under the Constitution.

Our Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights, were brilliant documents exhibiting the epitome of critical thinking. We had a group of people needing to provide a governmental structure that would respect the rights of all the citizens of the country, not just for them but for the future. They had lived under tyranny and knew what they DIDN’T want, but how to set down what they DID want? How could they make it clear for future generations? How could they make the “road map” clear for the future?

Ultimately, it was decided our new country should be a representative republic rather than a democracy (a democracy can best be illustrated by “ the question of dinner”. Five wolves and four sheep are voting on what they should have for dinner. By majority rule-democracy-the wolves voted to have the sheep for dinner-as the main course).

 The founders got down to the business to draw up the documents needed to direct this new country; through these founding documents, we enjoy rights and freedoms simply not conceivable, much less available, in other countries.

The first ten Amendments became the Bill of Rights. These rights were considered to be the most important freedoms, freedoms granted not by man but by God, and as such, could not be taken away by man.

Many of the colonists left Great Britain because of religious persecution. King Henry VIII had instituted the Church of England as the official religion of Great Britain when the Pope refused his petition to divorce Katherine of Aragon. Martin Luther had originated Protestantism in the 16th century, protesting abuses by the Roman Catholic Church and Papacy. These two breaks from Catholicism were the spark to many long and bloody wars throughout Europe. When Mary (a devout Catholic and the daughter of Henry and Katherine) ruled, she persecuted those who followed the Church of England and Protestantism, subsequently coming to be known as “Bloody Mary”. When Elizabeth, Mary’s half-sister (daughter of Henry and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and a follower of the Church of England) ruled, she persecuted Catholics. Eventually, Elizabeth ordered the execution of Mary.

These wars continue to this day, most prominently in Ireland where the land is STILL divided between Protestant and Catholic.

As if the religious persecution wasn’t bad enough, men didn’t have the right to speak freely. There was no presumption of innocence when accused of a crime. If one neighbor had a dispute with another, all one would have to do is accuse their neighbor of speaking ill of the ruler. The accused would be arrested and tried, often being tortured into a confession, and executed.

Because of the First Amendment, we are not constrained in our speech. We are allowed to express ourselves freely, even if that expression upsets someone else. We are allowed to worship as we choose—even if we choose NOT to worship. No one is allowed to set up a nationwide religion and force the citizens to worship in that religion. We are allowed to protest (peaceable assembly) when we don’t like something, and we are allowed to, basically, tell the government to take a hike when the government does something we don’t like (petition for redress of grievances).

The Second Amendment protects our right to protect ourselves. Weapons other than hunting weapons were not generally allowed the peasantry, and to use a weapon in defense of oneself (for instance, in the case of a wrongful arrest) was frowned upon-severely frowned upon. While gun rights are a hotly contested issue right now, the fact remains we as a people have the right to our own private arms for our own use, whether that use be self-defense, hunting, target practice, etc. Of course, this right implies certain responsibilities as well, particularly the responsibility of proper gun training, use and storage. If we lose this particular right, we lose the rest of our rights, a common sense fact not recognized by those who are eager to abrogate this right.

The current controversy surrounding this Amendment stems from the escalation in mass shootings, devastating tragedies that have taken the lives of children and adults alike. This is one area where objective, critical thinking is absolutely CRUCIAL; emotionalism has no place in this debate. Unfortunately, those who are advocating stripping this right from us appear to be immune to actual facts and instead, choose to play on emotionalism while ignoring the actual underlying factor in these mass shootings-that of mental illness. They are choosing to strip this right from law abiding gun owners en masse due to the actions of a few mentally ill individuals.

Several facts are ignored in these outcries. These facts include the targets have all been “soft”-places where guns are forbidden (schools and theaters), leaving target rich environments for them; all of the shooters have had severe mental issues and somehow “fell through the cracks”; at least some of the shooters were medicated with psychotropic drugs as children; the shooters generally did not purchase guns, they took them from family members who were the lawful owners, and the shooters often had more than one weapon, which had no bearing on magazine capacity.

These outcries also ignore the fact that every place that has instituted strict gun laws has been overrun with gun violence by criminals who obtained their weapons through the “black market” and are free to prey upon a defenseless citizenry—those who obey the gun laws and thus, have no means of defense. These cities are small mirrors of the Prohibition amendment; Prohibition did not work and was repealed. Using the old saying, “Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting different results”, why on earth would we continue this insanity? Criminals will get guns, one way or another. Law abiding citizens will be the ones punished by more restrictive gun laws. The NRA is not to blame for the mass shootings; certain political figures are not to blame for the mass shootings. The Republican Party and Tea Party conservatives are not to blame for the shootings. The shooters (overwhelmingly liberal Democrats, raised in liberal households and medicated into submission with dangerous drugs as children) are to blame for the shootings.

As stated above, critical thinking is absolutely CRUCIAL in this arena. A willingness to face facts and ignore agendas and emotionalism HAS to be part of that critical thinking. There are over 3,000 gun laws on the books, many redundant and contradictory. More restrictive laws will not help the situation. An overhaul is necessary, a common sense overhaul. Unfortunately, common sense is in very short supply; it has become a rare commodity.

The Third Amendment is not often thought about. Essentially, it gave us our military bases. It was written so military members were not forced upon a citizenry by being housed in a private citizen’s home.

The Fourth Amendment goes hand-in-hand with the First and Second Amendments. It gave us our right to privacy and protects us from random invasions of that privacy. We are protected from being randomly picked up off the street, our homes being forcibly entered and searched, and our belongings confiscated. Before any of these things can happen, the law must be followed, and warrants must be issued. These warrants must enumerate what is being looked for and why, and they must be specific. There must be just cause before a warrant can even be considered. This applies to technology in the form of wiretaps on telephones, and most recently, internet activity. Should we lose the First and Second Amendments, we will no longer be able to protect ourselves from the abuses of illegal search and seizure, we won’t be able to speak freely, and we would be subject to the whims of a government not needing a reason to stop and detain us.

The Fifth Amendment begins laying the groundwork for our judicial system. It protects us from prosecution for capital offenses without just cause, it protects us from double jeopardy and it protects us from self-incrimination in criminal instances. It also protects property owners from illegal seizure of property with recompense. Basically, this means your neighbor can no longer simply accuse you of a crime and you are arrested, tortured and executed without proof and due process. There has to be a reasonable surety that you committed the crime, and even then, you have protected rights to trial.

The Sixth Amendment continues the rights in the Fifth Amendment. It outlines criminal trials shall be speedy and public, where the trial shall take place, and the rights of the accused to have an impartial jury. It states the accused shall be informed of the nature of his crime, enumerating what he is accused of. It allows the accused to have witnesses in his favor and the right to counsel for his defense.

The Seventh Amendment deals with civil law and monetary damages (at the time, the value in controversy was set not to exceed twenty dollars), when the rights to a jury are preserved and a repeat of double jeopardy restrictions in civil jury trials.

The Eighth Amendment preserves our right to reasonable bail and fines and prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. For instance, shari’a law is prominent in Muslim countries and the fine for stealing is amputation of your right hand. While there are very vocal proponents for the institution of shari’a law in this country today (and some states have explicitly forbidden the institution of such, leading to “racial discrimination” lawsuits), bodily mutilation is considered cruel and unusual punishment. Such laws are in direct conflict with our Bill of Rights and Constitution.

The Ninth Amendment prohibits denying rights enjoyed by one group of people to any other group of people.

The Tenth Amendment preserves the rights of States. Simply put, it is the States that grant the government its powers, not the other way around. We are currently hearing a lot of buzz about the Tenth Amendment and State’s rights; those bringing up this issue are vilified as kooks and nuts. The fact remains, though, no matter how much name calling and vilification there is, the States DO have rights over the federal government and DO have the right to ignore laws they feel the federal government has enacted illegally and by doing so, has over-stepped its boundaries.

These ten Amendments are brilliant in their simplicity. They protect us from tyranny and mob rule while allowing us to grow and prosper. They protect us from the abuses the founders knew in their home countries.

As brilliant as these documents were, there were a few kinks in them. For instance, slavery was still legal and women were not allowed to vote. There were no term limits specified for the President, which could potentially lead to an unintended monarch in the future. Fortunately, provisions had been inserted in these documents to make changes in the future. Through those provisions, slaves were freed (13th Amendment, ratified December 6, 1865) and allowed to vote (15th Amendment, ratified February 3, 1870); women were given the right to vote under the 19th Amendment (ratified August 18, 1920) and Presidential and Vice Presidential term limits were set by the 20th amendment (ratified January 23, 1933).

There was at least one misstep along the way as well-an attempt to legislate morality. The 18th Amendment (ratified January 16, 1919) kicked off what came to be known as Prohibition. Prohibition was an attempt to control alcohol consumption, manufacture, transportation, importation, etc. The major unintended consequence of this Amendment was the rise of organized crime. Speakeasies and bootlegging were rampant; men like Al Capone rose to prominence through violence and intimidation. While this experiment was short-lived (the 21st Amendment, ratified December 5, 1933, repealed the 18th Amendment), we still have organized crime, firmly entrenched through the Prohibition experiment.

Our Constitution further enumerates the branches of government (Executive, Judicial and Legislative), as well as their duties and qualifications to hold these offices.

The United States method of government came to be called The Great Experiment. Never before had a people embarked on a journey of self rule. We pulled the best from other governments, threw it all into a pot, and stirred. We had fought for our rights and we are fiercely determined to keep them. We were-and still are-the “new kids”, with our own attitudes. We jump to the defense of those who ask, and we’re first on the scene to help those in need during times of disaster. We don’t invade countries to take them over (although there are many who would attempt to lead you to believe otherwise), nor do we invade to steal their resources (again, many would do their level best to convince you otherwise).

At times we do get a bit too enthusiastic and want to share our ways with others-sometimes to our detriment.

We have, unfortunately, become apathetic, taking our rights for granted, assuming the work is done and we don’t have to defend those rights. This apathy COULD be the end of this Great Experiment, allowing those who prefer tyranny and dictatorship to ascend to power. Oh there are pretty words used to describe this attempt—fairness, wealth distribution, etc.; there are many who choose to ignore what is happening in the world around them, who fail to educate themselves properly, and who fail to open their eyes.

There are those who prefer a nanny state, where the government dictates your every move from birth to death, sometimes even choosing whether or not you even HAVE a right to be born or choosing when you should die because you are no longer “useful” (in their eyes, not yours). They wish to tell you how much money you can make, and if you make more than they say you have a “right” to, they wish to force you to give that “excess” to those who choose not to work and support themselves. They wish to take programs intended to help people in times of need only and turn those programs into generational lifestyles.

They fail to acknowledge that every place this form of government has been tried has experienced an epic failure of government. They fail to acknowledge this is yet another enactment of the definition of insanity and they refuse to see this is in complete opposition to our founding principles.

Fortunately, while this group of people is very vocal (and often completely uncivil, resorting to all manner of falsehoods and omissions to advance their ideas), I believe they are ultimately in the minority. I believe there are many more who believe in our founding principles, and, while not as vocal, work within the law and within disciplined principles, to keep this experiment going.

History is cyclical and does repeat itself. People who have tasted freedom savor that taste and don’t give it up easily. The last thing anyone wants is another revolutionary war on our shores, but if pushed far enough, I fear the possibility. Thank goodness our experiment provides a more peaceful way for change-that of the ballot box and voting booth. The apathy and lack of education-purposeful or deliberate-must be overcome first.

Our experiment may be somewhat slow and sluggish at the moment. I have every faith it will “catch its second wind” and come roaring back with a vengeance.