By Zack Strong

*This article is a repost of the same article, by the same title, which I wrote for the Independent American Party of Utah on May 31, 2014. Though there are many things I would say differently or clarify were I to write it anew today, I have decided to keep it as-is.*

It is well known that Patrick Henry was among those who opposed the proposed Constitution in 1787. However, most do know know why Anti-Federalists like Henry opposed the new system. Anti-Federalists cited their belief that the Constitution “squints toward monarchy” or that it is foolish to think that a republic can be extended over a large territory. They criticized the provisions allowing for an army and thought the power of taxation could potentially be abused. Among the many reasons they gave for their opposition, however, one is often overlooked. Henry and others scoffed at the fact that the Framers were staking their whole experiment upon the goodness and morality of the People and upon the honesty of office holders in government. Henry believed this was a ludicrous idea, but others of the Founders proclaimed that only a moral and religious People were capable of Freedom and that an immoral and irreligious People would inevitably collapse under the weight of their own corruption.

Below is a lengthy quotation from an address by Patrick Henry wherein he discusses why he opposed the Constitution. In particular, this quotation highlights Henry’s incredulity towards the notion that our Constitution could only work if people were moral, honest and good. I will contrast Henry’s thoughts to those of other prominent Founders and then add some thoughts of my own regarding how this applies today:

“Where are your checks in this Government? Your strong holds will be in the hands of your enemies: It is on a supposition that our American Governors shall be honest, that all the good qualities of this Government are founded: But its defective, and imperfect construction, puts it in their power to perpetrate the worst mischiefs, should they be bad men. And, Sir, would not all the world, from the Eastern to the Western hemisphere, blame our distracted folly in resting our rights upon the contingency of our rulers being good or bad. Shew me the age and country where the rights and liberties of the people were placed on the sole chance of their rulers being good men, without a consequent loss of liberty? I say that the loss of that dearest privilege has ever followed with absolute certainty, every such mad attempt. If your American chief, be a man of ambition, and abilities, how easy is it for him to render himself absolute: The army is in his hands, and, if he be a man of address, it will be attached to him; and it will be the subject of long meditation with him to seize the first auspicious moment to accomplish his design; and, Sir, will the American spirit solely relieve you when this happens?” (Patrick Henry, June 7, 1788, “The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates,” Ralph Ketcham, ed., p. 214)

Patrick Henry is very clear that the only real check on government usurpation and tyranny that he can find in the Constitution is the goodness and honesty of its administrators, and the “spirit” of the American People. Peppered throughout Anti-Federalist arguments against the Constitution is the apprehension that the new system can only work if the People are virtuous and if their representatives are honest and unambitious. They were cynical and thought that history proved that people, and particularly their rulers, could not be virtuous. According to this view of mankind, such a Constitution as ours would be pointless because it could only lead to ruin.

Other Founders, however, believed that the American People in fact had the potential to break the historical cycle and create a Zion-like society. The book “The Majesty of God’s Law” by W. Cleon Skousen does a marvelous job of showing, through their own writings and quotations, how our Founders were anxious to found a Biblical society which they often called a “New Jerusalem” (Skousen, 24). So strong was this sentiment that Hebrew became a required language in some colleges and there was even a push to make Hebrew the official national language (Skousen, 23). But at any rate, many of the Founders believed that a moral and religious society was not only possible, but absolutely necessary.

On September 17, 1787, the day of the signing of the Constitution in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin anticipated many of the arguments that would be made against the Constitution. We would do well to review some of his comments on that occasion:

“I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other . . . Much of the strength and efficiency of any Government in producing and securing happiness to the people, depends, on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of the Government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its Governors.”

Benjamin Franklin wisely observed from history that when the People become corrupt and decadent and immoral, their governments become despotic. Therefore, said he, no system of government can survive unless the People are good. Consequently, Franklin and his fellow Framers were staking the success of the Constitution on the People being good. They hoped that America could become something different, something unique – a shining city on a hill. Henry and several of his fellow opponents to the Constitution thought this was madness. Yet, it seems to be the prevailing view among our Founders that morality and religion are indispensable to Freedom. I will discuss some of these sentiments below, but for a more in depth discussion on this subject, please see my previous article: http://www.independentamericanparty.org/2014/05/morality-and-religion-pillars-of-free-society-by-zack-strong/.

In his memorable Farewell address in 1796, George Washington declared: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of man and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.” Indispensable is a strong word, yet the Father of Our Country was definitive in his view that morality and religion were absolutely essential to free government.

In that same address, Washington firmly stated: “And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle . . . It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a

necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?” Only the most ignorant of history can conclude that morality and religion are not essential to free society.

Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll, flatly stated: “Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime & pure, which denounces against the wicked eternal misery, and insured to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments” (Charles Carroll to James McHenry, November 4, 1800).

Like Carroll, John Adams bluntly said: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other” (John Adams to the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts, October 11, 1798). There is no misunderstanding Adams – morality and religion were absolute necessities to free society in his view. And, furthermore, the Constitution was calculated to compliment just such a society.

John Adams’ cousin Samuel Adams, the Father of the American Revolution, was even more dire in his predictions of what would befall an immoral People. He wrote: “He who is void of virtuous Attachments in private Life is, or very soon will be, void of all Regard for his Country. There is seldom an Instance of a Man guilty of betraying his Country, who had not before lost the Feeling of moral Obligations in his private Connections . . . No People will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when Knowledge is diffusd and Virtue is preservd. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners, they will sink under their own Weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders” (Samuel Adams to James Warren, November 4, 1775). Think of how many individuals have betrayed their country in our generation alone! In every case, we can point to their lack of character and morals. And, tragically, it is self-evident that America is sinking under her own weight of corruption, just as Adams predicted.

John Witherspoon was also convinced that morality was necessary to our national survival. He wrote: “Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue. On the other hand, when the manners of a nation are pure, when true religion and internal principles maintain their vigor, the attempts of the most powerful enemies to oppress them are commonly baffled and disappointed” (John Witherspoon, “The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Man,” May 17, 1776). Indeed, nothing is more certain nor more proven by history.

Finally, I quote once more from the illustrious George Washington. Said he, “Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society” (George Washington to the Clergy of Philadelphia, March 3, 1797). Long ago I adopted the similar term “pillars of free society” to describe morality and religion. I believe them so very important to our existence as a free country. I believe the wholesale violation of the eternal laws of right and wrong, or morality, or basic human decency, and of true religion will be America’s final undoing if we persist on this path.

Unless we repent as a People, we will collapse, crumble, and fall as every empire of the past has done. We will be hated by posterity for not salvaging this, the greatest, freest, most prosperous nation in the history of the world. Unfortunately, the seeds of our destruction were sown well over a century ago, with multiple generations carefully cultivating them. And now we are reaping the horrid harvest by perpetuating this moral corruption. This country may not last long enough to see another generation before America sits in ruins and is but a painful memory of what could have been had we the integrity and sense to humble ourselves before our Creator and simply follow His eternal laws of justice, truth, goodness, and happiness.

America might not be salvageable, but individuals certainly are. A remnant of God-fearing, humble, moral, decent individuals will always be preserved no matter which path society as a whole chooses. We must make it our job to be among that group and to enlist as many people as we can into our ranks. A “tireless minority,” as Samuel Adams said, will eventually prevail and the brushfires of Freedom will spread over the face of the globe. If we stand on God’s side and follow the eternal laws of morality, nothing can shake us.