10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS HISTORY DECEMBER 27, 2024 History of the founding documents: the freedom, rights, liberty we cherish Abraham Lincoln once said, “No one deserves freedom and liberty unless they are willing to extend them to others.” For more than two hundred years, America became a place where oppressed people from around the world have run to in search of religious freedom and opportunity to make their lives and their family conditions better. The pilgrims came to Massachusetts Bay in 1620, fleeing from persecution in England. Unlike the pilgrims, the African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, around 1619 for the purpose of forced labor in perpetuity. They did not get their modicum of freedom and liberty until the 13th and 14th amendments of the 1860s. December has a special meaning to every American who cares about due process rights, equal protection guarantee, freedom and liberty. December 15 is the Bill of Rights Day! It is the day that we celebrate the ratification of the Bill of Rights in New York City at the Convention of the Second United States Congress of December 15, 1791. In observance of the Bill of Rights Day, visitors to the National Archive Building will be shown the original copies of the document. They can also see huge murals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution displayed in the rotunda of the National Archive which is located in Washington, DC. The online magazine “National Today” noted that the Bill of Rights display is “a reminder to all Americans of their constitutional freedom.” As we celebrate the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, we can find some inspiration in President Ronald Wilson Reagan’s farewell message of January 11, 1989. Among other remarks, he said, “We've got to do a better job of getting across that America is about freedom — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile, it needs protection.” President Reagan continued, “But we’ve got to teach history based not on what’s in fashion, but what is important — why the pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant … I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in the erosion of the American spirit. Let’s start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic rituals.” How did President Reagan want us to teach history and civics? He said, WILL SHAKESPEARE Groundcover vendor No. 258 “Let me offer lesson number one about America: all great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night, in the kitchen, I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents haven’t been teaching you what it means to be an American, let ’em know and nail ’em on it. That would be a very American thing to do.” Reagan continued, “I’ve thought a bit of the ‘Shining City upon the Hill.’ The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we’d call a little wooden boat, and like the other pilgrims, he was looking for a home that could be free.” President Reagan offered one final remark about his vision of America, which he equated to the “shining city of the hill.” He observed, “And how stands the city on this winter? More prosperous, more secure and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true to the granite ridge, and her flow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places hurling through the darkness, toward home.” America’s founding documents According to the National Archive Museum, our nation's founding documents are: 1) the Declaration of Independence; 2) the Constitution; and 3) the Bill of Rights. With respect to the Declaration of Independence, we encourage our readers and members of our community to pay attention to the first and second paragraphs of the Preamble. The Declaration of Independence was signed by the Congress of the 13 original colonies inside the Independence Hall in, Philadelphia, on July 4, 1776. Constitutional Convention of 1787. Mural painting at the Rotunda of the National Archive Building. The founding fathers who worked on the document selected Thomas Jefferson to read the full text to the American people. The most popular and memorable preamble of the text are: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any one form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes.” One year after the Declaration of Independence, the 13 original colonies signed the 1777 Articles of Confederacy, which established the Commonwealth of Independent States. A governor from Virginia was appointed president of the Confederacy, but he resigned because the central government was very weak and federal-state government relationships were problematic. In the spring of 1787, a Constitutional Convention was called. It was supposed to take place in Annapolis, Maryland. It was canceled because they did not have a quorum — not enough delegates showed up. The second constitutional convention was called for June to September 1787. They had a quorum and succeeded in designing the key institutions of government. The Preamble to the United States Constitution is: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a - more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.“ As of today, the Constitution has seven articles and 27 amendments. The key institutions of government: Congress/Legislative, Presidency/ Executive and Judiciary, are derived from Article I, Article II, and Article III, respectively. There are several sections in all the seven articles of the constitution. For example, Article I Section 1 says, “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” Article II Section 1 of the constitution states that, “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows …” Article III Section 1 of the Constitution states that, “The Judicial power of the United States shall be vested in the Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall at stated times receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.” The national archives provide us with a brief history of the Bill of Rights. It also claims distinction as the home of America’s founding documents. One recent research report is titled, see RIGHTS next page
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