The Founding Fathers may have declared independence from Britain in 1776, but the real work of putting together the new government did not take place until the Constitutional Convention met between May and September of 1787 in the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. After the debate and work ended, and the delegates were leaving the hall, Elizabeth Powell, who was waiting in the crowd, is said to have asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” Franklin responded, “A republic, madam, if you can keep it.”
The word republic comes from the Latin phrase res publica, meaning “thing of the people” or the public property. A republic is a form of government in which a state is ruled by representatives of the citizen body. The philosophy that defines a republic is republicanism. Republicanism emphasizes several tenets: liberty, the importance of civic virtue, the benefits of universal political participation, the dangers of corruption, the need for separate powers within government, popular sovereignty, and a healthy reverence for the rule of law.
Sept. 17 marks Constitution Day, the anniversary of the Constitution’s ratification. It got me thinking: With all this talk of personal liberty, have we forgotten the importance of civic virtue?
