A Republic, If We Can Keep It

I wrote the following short essay on July 3rd. On July 4th, a disturbed, angry young man used a high-powered rifle to shoot up a sunny Independence Day parade just getting underway. Six people are dead and two dozen wounded. As of this writing, there have been 309 mass shootings in the United States this year.

A Republic

American democracy and the Enlightenment-era thought that inspired its creation is only a faint breath in the scheme of human history.

Forged in the summer heat of 1787, the Constitution defining this new way of governance was a long shot.

“A republic,” Ben Franklin allegedly said, “if you can keep it.”

Ratified by the states, the United States Constitution became the land’s supreme law in 1789.

When the Bill of Rights was ratified in December of 1791, the aspirations of an enlightened form of government fully, haltingly emerged: E Pluribus Unum–We the People. A shining light on the hill.

We the People?

In the genius of the moment, those old white men devised a scheme to advance human ideals they knew they could not meet. “We the People” didn’t include women, non-land-owners, or people sold into slavery.