Constitutional Principle 2

Constitutional Principle 2

A Free People Cannot Survive Under

A Republican Constitution Unless They

Remain Virtuous and Morally Strong

Modern Americans have long since forgotten the heated and sometimes violent debates which took place in the thirteen colonies between 1775 and 1776 over the issue of morality. For many thousands of Americans the big question of independence hung precariously on the single, slender thread of whether or not the people were sufficiently “virtuous and moral” to govern themselves. Self-government was generally referred to as “republicanism,” and it was universally acknowledged that a corrupt and selfish people could never make the principles of republicanism operate successfully.

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

Benjamin Franklin

George Washington later praised the American Constitution as the “palladium of human rights,” but pointed out that it could survive only “so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people.”

What Is “Public Virtue”?

Morality is identified with the Ten Commandments and obedience to the Creator’s mandate for “right conduct,” but the early Americans identified “public virtue” as a very special quality of human maturity in character and service closely akin to the Golden Rule.

In a Republic, however, each man must somehow be persuaded to submerge his personal wants into the greater good of the whole. This willingness of the individual to sacrifice his private interest for the good of the community—such patriotism or love of country—the eighteenth century termed public virtue….The eighteenth century mind was thoroughly convinced that a popularly based government “cannot be supported without virtue.”

Gordon S. Wood, Historian

Self-Doubts

The people had an instinctive thirst for independence, but there remained a haunting fear that they might not be “good enough” to make it work. These self-doubts were actually the eye of the hurricane during those final pre-revolutionary years when Americans were trying to decide whether they had the moral capacity for self-government. Their doubts gradually diminished as their patriotic indignation was aroused by the harsh and sometimes brutal policies of the British crown. They were also moved by the powerful expressions of faith and confidence pouring forth from men of “admired virtue” such as John Adams, George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, and Josiah Quincy.

Spirits continued to rise so that by the spring of 1776, thousands of confident voices were heard throughout the colonies affirming that there was sufficient “public virtue” in the people to make republican principles work successfully.

The Tide of Reform

Many Americans became extremely self-conscious about their lack of “public virtue” because of non-involvement in the affairs of government. They began to acknowledge their obsession with self-interest, the neglect of public affairs, and their disdain for the needs of the community as a whole. Gradually, a spirit of “sacrifice and reform” became manifest in all thirteen colonies.

In the eyes of the Whigs, the two or three years before the Declaration of independence always appears to be the great period of the Revolution, the time of greatest denial and cohesion, when men ceased to extort and abuse one another, when families and communities seemed peculiarly united, when the courts were wonderfully free  of that constant bickering over land and credit that had dominated their colonial life.

Historian (Ibid,. p. 102)

How the Moral Reform Accelerated the Revolution

Many Americans became so impressed with the improvement in the quality of life as a result of the reform movement that they were afraid they might lose it if they did not hurriedly separate from the corrupting influence of British manners. They attributed this corruption to the monarchial aristocracy of England. Americans were exhibiting a potential capacity for virtue and morality which would guarantee the success of a free, self-governing society. Therefore, it became popular to express the sentiment that the sooner they became independent the better.

The Lessons of History

It is only in the historical context that the modern American can appreciate the profound degree of anxiety which the Founders expressed concerning the quality of virtue and morality in their descendants. They knew that without these qualities, the Constitution they had written and the republican system of government which it provided could not be maintained.

Virtue has to be earned and it has to be learned. Neither is virtue a permanent quality in human nature. It has to be cultivated continually and exercised from hour to hour and from day to day. The Founders looked to the home, the school, and the churches to fuel the fires of virtue from generation to generation.

…I think with you, that nothing is of more importance for the public weal, than to form and train up youth in wisdom and virtue. Wise and good men are, in my opinion, the strengthen of the state; more so than riches or arms…

Benjamin Franklin

A Warning from the Founders

Samuel Adams

I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue.

John Adams

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Summary

We can see that our country was founded on Biblical beliefs. There is no separation of state once again to be noted. But for our country to continue as a republic, we must be virtuous and moral. We do not see this today in a lot of people. We must begin to re-educate ourselves first in the home, church and the in the schools. We will survive as a nation? With God’s help and people willing to go by His Word and established rights.