This week we are celebrating the birth of our nation – 250 years of the great experiment of the democratic republic of United States of America. It has been 250 years since we adopted the Declaration of Independence. 250 years of declaring the right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” and “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence.”
The American Revolution officially ended September 3, 1783, when Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris.
The Constitution wasn’t finalized and signed until September 17, 1787. Even then the states had to ratify it, and that took a while. The Constitution became the official framework of the government of the United States of America on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the 9th of 13 states to ratify it. North Carolina initially rejected the Constitution, because the Bill of Rights was not included. The state ratified it in November 1789 after the promise of amendments. Rhode Island was the last holdout. They finally ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790, under pressure from the new federal government including the threat of economic isolation.
Before the Constitution, the United States operated under the Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1781 during the Revolutionary War.
As the Constitution said, it was created “in Order to form a more perfect Union.” Not “the perfect.” Everyone knew it would change. In fact, before it even was ratified by all the states, James Madison introduced 17 amendments to the Constitution born from the Massachusetts Compromise, of which Congress adopted twelve on September 25, 1789, to send forth to the states for ratification. Ten of those amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791.
Since then, there have been 27 amendments to the Constitution – one of which (the 21st) was to repeal a previous amendment (the 18th). That particular repeal was celebrated by many with a cocktail.
As we celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States, we raise a glass in celebration to the spirit of innovation, experimentation, healthy debate, and compromise to create a more perfect Union and the idea that we are all created equal with certain unalienable Rights including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.