“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." - John Adams

The true story of the beginning of our American system of government is a phenomenon that it seems people are failing to remember today.  The watered-down version that tells of American farmers and merchants fighting off the British and establishing an independent country does no justice to the real facts of what went on for years while the colonists fought the most powerful military of that time while at the same time toiling over the system of government they would establish in a free America.

The real version needs to be told; preserving the remarkable story and reality that is the United States depends on it.  This election is about the economy-- but the underlying theme beneath this and every other election is which candidate is taking us back to the principles of our incredible beginning.  This isn't to tell you which candidate I feel you should vote for; rather, this is simply a reminder of how amazing our beginning and how extraordinary America truly is. 

Just as the victorious battle waged by American merchants and farmers on the mighty British military was unprecedented, so was the form of government the framers chose to create.  James Madison spent a large part of 1786 studying books sent to him by Thomas Jefferson (who was in Paris at the time). Madison took careful notes while searching for a form of government worthy to be the model for the new country.  He investigated the confederacies in ancient Greece and the then recently-formed United Netherlands, the Roman republic, and the history of numerous other countries; in the end, he concluded that there was no existing model that would fit the one he had in mind for the United States. He wrote in one of the Federalist Papers that history is only a beacon of lights "which gives warning of the course to be shunned, without pointing out that which ought to be pursued."  Thus the government created by the framers was one that was utterly unprecedented at that time.

The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia had an original mission of amending the Articles of Confederation to better fit the needs of the new nation; the result of the Convention was a wholly new Constitution unlike one the world had ever seen.  Not only did the fifty-six men in attendance write a new document, they had the task of determining the layout of the new government as well-- how many houses of Congress, how would members of Congress be elected, how many branches of government would exist, and many other factors were decided at the Constitutional Convention.  The larger states wanted representation based on population numbers, while the smaller states wanted equal representation for every state regardless of size.  The answer was found in a two-chambered Congress, one's size determined by states' populations and the other giving equal representation to all. Would a strong federal government exist or would all decisions be left up to the individual states?  A federal government that shared power with the states was the solution.  These are some of many disputes that were settled in the midst of gently crafting a hopeful new nation.

The new Constitution faced enormous opposition, partly due to the lack of a bill of rights for the people; after much debate, the first ten amendments were made to the Constitution shortly after its ratification. Compromises had been made and opinions had also been held firm; but the end result was the birth of a nation unlike one the world had ever seen and still the greatest country in the world today.

Too much has been sacrificed for the success of the United States; too much depends on our success for us to give up and let failure happen now because we're not willing to put in the work required to sustain the ideas this country is based upon. What are we fighting for if not the maintaining of the greatest country on earth?  

I believe that the watered-down version of our founding is partly responsible for the lack of willingness from so many people to fight for this country's future.  Reversal of this dangerous trend is vital to remembering the reality of our extraordinary founding.