Celebrating Our Constitutional Republic

When Benjamin Franklin emerged from the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman reportedly asked him, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”

Franklin’s response has echoed through the centuries: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Franklin understood something crucial: A republic is far more fragile than a monarchy or even a pure democracy.

It requires something that other forms of government don’t demand — the active participation, vigilance, and moral engagement of its citizens.

A Constitutional Republic means that power resides in the people, but it’s exercised through elected representatives who are bound by Constitutional law.

This system includes checks and balances designed to prevent any one branch of government from becoming too powerful, and it protects individual rights even when they’re unpopular with the majority.

A pure democracy, on the other hand, operates by simple majority rule — which our Founders recognized could become “mob rule” that tramples the rights of minorities and individuals.

They studied history and saw how pure democracies had collapsed into chaos or tyranny.

That’s why they gave us a Constitutional Republic with carefully designed safeguards to protect both majority will and minority rights under the rule of law.

We often forget just how radical and dangerous it was to sign the Declaration of Independence.

These men weren’t just expressing political disagreement — they were committing treason against the British Crown.

If the Revolution had failed, every signer would have faced execution.

When they pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor,” it wasn’t empty rhetoric. Many of them did lose their fortunes. Some lost their lives.

All of them sacrificed comfort and security for an idea that had never been successfully implemented in human history.

Consider what these men gave up:

These weren’t desperate men with nothing to lose — they were successful, comfortable citizens who had everything to lose and chose principle over prosperity.

They understood that some things are worth any sacrifice: the right to self-governance, the protection of individual liberty, and the establishment of a system where rights come from God, not government.

Despite what modern revisionist history claims, America was deliberately founded as a Judeo-Christian nation.

This doesn’t mean a theocracy, but it does mean our Founders expected Christian principles to guide both public and private life.

The modern myth of “separation of church and state” comes from a misunderstanding of Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists, where he assured them there was a wall to keep the state out of church affairs — not to keep the church out of state affairs.

Our Founders wanted to protect religious practice from government interference, not eliminate religious influence from public life.

Even Founders who weren’t Christians themselves, like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, understood that true Christianity provided the moral foundation necessary for a just republic.

Our Founding Documents contain over 75% direct quotes or concepts from the Bible.

The idea that all men are created equal comes straight from Scripture. The concept of unalienable rights derives from the understanding that humans are made in God’s Image.

The Founders knew that without a moral populace, no constitution could preserve freedom.

As John Adams wrote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

This is why they emphasized virtue, character, and moral education. They understood that external freedom requires internal restraint.

Independence Day isn’t just about fireworks and barbecues — though I do love the latter!

(Not to digress, but I have no love for the former. Bad memories. Trust me: If you were a child who had to go potty but were told to go in the gutter because the adults wanted to watch the fireworks along the freeway, well, you’d hate them too!)

Independence Day is about celebrating the most successful experiment in human freedom ever attempted.

We’re celebrating the idea that government exists to serve the people, not the other way around.

We’re honoring the principle that rights come from our Creator, not from human institutions.

We’re remembering that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they’re willing to sacrifice for something greater than themselves.

Franklin’s warning about keeping the republic wasn’t just for his generation — it applies to every generation of Americans.

Each of us inherits the responsibility to preserve what our Founders established and what countless Americans have died to protect.

This means understanding our history accurately, not the distorted version that teaches shame instead of gratitude.

It means participating in the process rather than leaving governance to others.

It means teaching our children the principles that make America exceptional.

Franklin understood that republics are fragile because they depend on citizen virtue and engagement.

When people become apathetic, corrupt, or more interested in what government can give them than in preserving liberty, the republic begins to crumble.

We’ve seen this pattern throughout history. Nations that started with noble ideals gradually abandoned those principles in exchange for temporary security or material comfort.

And we see it happening now in the very nation that championed those ideals, that has stood as a beacon of life and freedom to the world.

The price of liberty truly is eternal vigilance.

This doesn’t mean paranoia, but it does mean staying informed, staying involved, and never taking our freedoms for granted.

It means remembering that we’re a Constitutional Republic, not a pure democracy where the majority can vote away the rights of the minority.

It means insisting that our leaders respect Constitutional limits rather than expanding government power for temporary convenience.

It means teaching each new generation why these principles matter and what happens when they’re abandoned.

As someone who’s studied history and understands what most of the world has endured under various forms of tyranny, I’m profoundly grateful to be an American. Not because we’re perfect — we’re not — but because we’re perfectible.

Our system includes mechanisms for correcting injustices and expanding liberty. When we’ve fallen short of our ideals, we’ve had the tools to change course.

The Civil War proved we’d literally fight ourselves rather than abandon the principle that all men are created equal.

What I love most about America is the spirit our Founders established: the belief that ordinary people can govern themselves, that individual initiative matters more than noble birth, and that the future can be better than the past if we’re willing to work for it.

This optimism, this belief in human potential under God’s providence, distinguishes America from nations that accept decline as inevitable or government control as necessary.

Every Independence Day should remind us that freedom isn’t free, and self-governance isn’t automatic.

We inherit both the blessings and the responsibilities of citizenship in this Constitutional Republic.

This means more than just voting — though that’s crucial. It means understanding what we’re voting for, why our system works the way it does, and what we need to preserve for future generations.

Franklin’s challenge echoes across the centuries: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Each generation must answer that challenge anew.

We keep the republic by remembering our history accurately, understanding our Founding Principles clearly, and living up to the moral standards that make self-governance possible.

We keep it by teaching our children that they’re inheritors of something precious and rare — a system that trusts people to govern themselves under God and Constitutional law.

So this July 4th, as you enjoy the festivities and fireworks, remember what we’re really celebrating: the courage of fifty-six men who risked everything for an idea, the wisdom of Founders who created a system that has preserved liberty for nearly 250 years, and the ongoing responsibility we all share to keep this republic.

We’re not just Americans by accident of birth — we’re inheritors of the greatest experiment in human freedom ever attempted.

That inheritance comes with the responsibility to preserve, protect, and pass on these blessings to future generations.

That’s worth celebrating. That’s worth protecting. And that’s worth the eternal vigilance Franklin knew would be required.

Happy Independence Day, and God bless our Constitutional Republic!