Citizen Advocates for Constitutional Principles

Focusing on Constitutional Principles www.cacp.info – # 637 – 9-16-06 – 141 – Donald Conkey

A Founder’s Profile: Roger Sherman (1721 – 1793) was born in Massachusetts then moved to Connecticut and there engaged in mercantile pursuits, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1743. Active in politics he was named a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. He was a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, helped draft the Articles of Confederation, and later became a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and was known as a peace maker. He, along with colleagues Oliver Ellsworth and William Samuel Johnson, proposed the ‘Connecticut Compromise’ that allowed the convention to move forward by creating the compromise that provided “equal representation” (two senators per state), and “proportional representation” (one man, one vote) in the House. Without this vital compromise the convention would have likely failed. Question. Just how important are compromises in politics, especially on emotional issues?

Source: Skousen’s The Making of America.

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Preamble of the Constitution for the United States of America
by George William Sweeney

How often do we really take a look at the Preamble of our Constitution. Let me take a moment to reflect on it with you.

We the People

The citizens of the new nation.

of the United States,

The thirteen separate colonies that were under the King of England joined together as separate states to form a new government.

in Order to form a more perfect Union,

The first government formed by the newly free and independent states was a confederacy. They soon found the confederacy greatly flawed and lacking the power to hold this loose union together.

establish Justice,

The new government was to establish a system of justice and equality.

insure domestic Tranquility,

After the Revolution the confederacy of states was too weak to prevent internal conflicts. This often lead to bloodshed and was leading to the breaking up of the union formed to fight England.

provide for the common defense,

History has sadly shown that without a strong defense there is no peace.

promote the general Welfare,

The Founding Fathers recognized that a free people could not remain free without economic freedom as well. To ensure this the constitution was to provide for a free market.

and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,

The Constitution was to be a perpetual guarantee of human rights.

do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Constitution was a contract between the People, States and the new government. It was, and was to continue as bylaws for a corporation. The owners, the citizens of the United States, granted government certain powers in order to protect the rights, property, safety and security of the new nation. Government did not have the powers except as granted and sustained by the People and the States.