Constitution 101

On 17 September 1787, a group of intrepid men affixed their signatures, on behalf of their states and the people thereof, to the document we know as the United States Constitution. To this day, in theory at least, it has served as the foundation upon which were erected our federal government, institutions and laws. A look at the activities of our federal government during the ensuing 221 years, however, reveals an astonishing departure from constitutional governance. In this, the first in our series on the Constitution, we will present a brief, historical perspective on its development and intended function.

The Constitution is, at its most basic, a legal document, a charter, that created our federal government, and defined both its composition and the powers delegated to it by the states. Today, one might argue that it is more of an ideology, rather than a legal document that determines what powers the federal government will exercise, despite absolute prohibitions against such developments in the Constitution. This seems to be primarily a result of strident assertions over the course of history that the Constitution is a “living, breathing” document whose meaning changes as society “matures.”

Ideology is not law, however, and the Constitution is, as stated in Article VI, the “Supreme Law of the Land.” George Washington, in his 1796 farewell address, correctly warned that,”[t]he basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, ’till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole People is sacredly obligatory upon all.”

A fact worth noting here, since it seems to have been all but forgotten, is that the Constitution originally applied only to the federal government. Both the Constitution and the federal government came into existence as a result of a compact between the states.

The states, already having constitutions sufficient to their own needs, certainly had no reason to create a new one for themselves, unless it was to replace all of their own founding documents and create a single-nation state, rather than a federal government. The process by which the Constitution was created and adopted clearly demonstrates the intent of establishing a federal republic—not a single state under one government. The several states retained their individuality and reserved significant rights of sovereignty, while working together under a federal system that bridged the gaps and simplified interaction between them.

It is the casual, perhaps even negligent, “interpretation” of the Constitution by federal judges and Justices of the US Supreme Court, acting on their own agendas—or buckling to external pressures from which they are supposedly shielded—that has permitted constitutional government to become little more than a quaint notion. Indeed, appalling interpretational twists have occurred throughout our history. One such twist, for example, involves a powerful, yet virtually ignored, amendment.

The 10th Amendment to the Constitution reads simply, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Without doubt, this protects the states from encroachment on their sovereign rights by the federal government. That, however, has not prevented courts from allowing just the opposite.

Under the Articles of Confederation, powers were “expressly delegated to the United States.” Because the 10th Amendment lacks the word “expressly,” courts have found both implied and express delegation of powers to Congress, which has resulted in the restriction of states’ sovereignty and power and, consequently, far greater congressional power than actually granted by the Constitution—and the Congress has not shied away from excessive power grabs.

The Constitution, which prescribes a limited federal government, has been virtually abandoned by those sworn to uphold and defend it, and the states have been reduced to mere vassals of the federal government. That the tail is now wagging the dog is sad testament to the fact that ours is clearly not the government created by the Constitution. The future this portends is dire, indeed.

Thanks to BMS for his collaboration on this post!

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 20:46 and is filed under Constitution 101. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.