Celebrate Constitution Day

Celebrate Constitution Day
Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven. All rights reserved.

During the the 1600s and 1700s individuals in cultures across Europe were ruled by kings and queens.  Several of these rulers believed, or at least stated, they ruled with divine right with authority from God.  For example, King Louis XIV (14th) of France portrayed himself as the whole government.  Louis declared, “L’état, c’est moi!”or “I am the state.”  Also, during this time the British government created new taxes in the colonies to raise funds.  The British did not have to pay these taxes, only those in the New World.  Thus, conflict increased between the government officials and colonialists.  

America's Constitution Day, also Citizenship Day, is a federal recognition of the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787.  Interestingly enough the day was established as part of the Omnibus (pork filled) spending bill of congress in 2004.  Another interesting bit of trivia: Democrat Senator Robert Byrd, and former Ku Klux Klan member, added the amendment to the spending bill.  The bill requires schools and other institutions receiving federal funds to recognize the day, not with time off, rather with constitutional lessons and activities.

The ideas of the Enlightenment and Reformation were well known, especially to Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.  In 1766 Benjamin Franklin went to London to speak to officials in parliament, this is the origins of his famous “taxation without representation” line.  A decade after signing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and the Commonwealth of Virginia's General Assembly passed his Act for Establishing Religious Freedom.  "Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." (Thomas Jefferson's 1786 Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom.)  

It became law because Baptists, ordinary farmers, and everyday shopkeepers, tavern owners, blacksmiths, and housewives who had a vision of the role of religion in society, as scholar Daniel Dreisbach observed, it would "allow every religious sect and denomination to compete in the marketplace of ideas."  Civil War resulted over religious freedom and taxes.  One of the most famous figures in the American Revolution was George Washington.  His leadership and inspiration helped the colonial army win against British forces. 

The American Revolution and U.S. Constitution promoted organized and lawful rebellion, as opposed to the savagery of mobs in the French Revolution.  The Constitution also ended divine right by monarchs in America, proclaiming divine right of the people to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" (Preamble, U.S. Constitution).

How to Celebrate Constitution Day

Find a webcast from a credible source.

Create a digital presentation with your family.

Make a poster for your place of work.

Record a podcast episode.

Visit a local library to discover books about the U.S. Constitution.

Join the Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven circle:

sign up for email updates.

Credits: The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, Pexels, Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, Britannica, Holt, PBS, U.S. Constitution