Constitution Day September 17

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By Steven Maikoski, Author: “The Real Constitution and its Real Enemies”

and soon: The Constitutionist Speaks

constitutionist@protonmail.com 

8-31-2026

This September 17th is Constitution Day, honoring the 1787 event when the Constitution was presented to the thirteen states for ratification.  It was not perfect, and the writers knew it.  But their work proved to be the most successful foundation for government in world history.  Many attempts have been made to change it, but only one affected its true spirit. Despite that change, it has remained a masterpiece of political design.

In celebrating our Constitution’s 239th birthday, here are a few important facts about its philosophy and design.

a) Preparation: The 55 delegates at the convention had studied well for the upcoming task. Twelve states had sent their best people to the Convention (Rhode Island abstained) to modify the Articles of Confederation, which soon shifted to drafting an entirely new Constitution. The delegates knew they had a unique opportunity in world history to create a government, as Alexander Hamilton put it, based on reflection and choice rather than accident and force.  (Federalist #1)

   In the spring of 1786,  James Madison wrote “Notes on Ancient and Modern Confederacies.” His studies involved the Lycian Confederacy, the Amphictyonic League, and the Achaean League of ancient Greece. He also studied the Swiss Confederation, the Dutch Republic, and the Germanic Empire, examining why governments failed and why they succeeded.  From those studies, he developed his Virginia Plan for a new Constitution.  That plan set the foundation for the new Constitution. 

b) A Republic, not a Democracy:  The Founders wanted to design a government that respected private property and human rights, so they avoided a government that was easily subject to popular pressures. I believe that historian Richard Hofstadter’s description of the delegates was the best:

   “They were men of affairs, merchants, lawyers, planter-businessmen, speculators, investors. Having seen human nature on display in the marketplace, the courtroom, the legislative chamber, and in every secret path and alleyway where wealth and power were courted, they felt they knew it in all its frailty. To them a human being was an atom of self-interest. They did not believe in man, but they did believe in the power of a good political constitution to control him.” (The American Political Tradition)

     With this in mind, the Founders created a republican form of government that separated the powers between the Legislature, the Executive, and the Judiciary. It was designed to be limited in its power, leaving many decisions and powers to the States, which demanded a good degree of autonomy from a federal government. As an example, they believed that as each state pursued its own education system, competition among states would cause the better system to be adopted by other States (the founders did not want federal involvement in education).

c) The Senate and the Electoral College: Both are important factors in our republican form of government; both are designed to limit the influence of what has been known as the tyranny of the majority.

   The Electoral College created a system in which the States decided the Executive while limiting the influence of large population centers.  

   The Senate has changed from its original constitutional design, which states: “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof…”  Those senators were essentially ambassadors of each state and had the power to check the growth and mismanagement of the federal government.  I have maintained that the State-appointed Senators were the Guardians of the 10th Amendment, which limits the federal government's involvement in State affairs.

That system was changed in 1913 by the 17th Amendment, which directed that Senators would now be elected by popular vote.  This was a major change to our Republican form of government, because the Senators were now agents of popular pressures, which not only affected lawmaking, but also had a deleterious effect on the Executive’s appointments of justices, ambassadors, and other officials.  

d) The Energetic Executive: the founders decided to appoint a single individual as president rather than two or a committee. That president would shoulder full responsibility for his actions and be able to act immediately if necessary.  The Constitution gave him the responsibility to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”  So, he is the chief law enforcement officer in the nation. The president is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States (later expanded to include the other services), giving him the ability to act swiftly against threats to our nation.

    The energetic part is not in the Constitution; it is repeated in several of the Federalist Papers, especially #70.  The Founders knew from experience that threats to the nation could arise without warning, so they deliberately gave the President the authority to address them without first convening Congress.  Thomas Jefferson was the first President to use that power.  The actual Declaration of War was reserved for Congress.  

e) Morality: Here I cite honesty in dealings with others, respect for life, and respect for our nation and its Constitution.  When a government official takes their oath to preserve, protect, and defend our Constitution, it must be honestly delivered, or enforced against them if not.   

   The reason for this is best explained by the great John Adams in 1798.  Usually only the last two sentences of his writing are cited in history books, but this paragraph deserves your complete attention.  Please slowly read and digest the information he gives to all of us:

“While our country remains untainted with the principles and manners which are now producing desolation in so many parts of the world; while she continues sincere, and incapable of insidious and impious policy, we shall have the strongest reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned us by Providence. But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation while it is practising iniquity and extravagance, and displays in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world; because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

This is a strong lesson from history.

If you would like a pdf of this to print and share:  constitutionist@outlook.com

Steven Maikoski