In 1630
while still onboard ship, John Winthrop sermonized to his fellow Puritans that
they were sailing to “a city upon a hill—the eyes of all people are upon us.”
One hundred
and fifty years later, the Founders believed this to their core. They believed they were building an exceptional nation and the world was watching.
Although many
politicians have used the idiom, the phrase “a shiny city on a hill” is most
closely associated with Ronald Reagan. He used it many times in his political career,
but never so poignantly as in his farewell address.
Excerpt from Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Address
“I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it, and see it still.”
Our forefathers moved
through the founding period knowing the world was watching. The Founders were
good people guided by solid, well-thought-out principles. They set their sights
high. They chose to do something great. They wanted to be the light of the
world.
The United
States of America is exceptional, but we are not exceptional because we are a
different kind of people. People are the same the world over. We are
exceptional because of the uniqueness of our founding. The Declaration of
Independence and United States Constitution were not events. They were
processes that took many years to come to fruition. They both engaged an entire
nation. They both were guided by clear principles. They both reflected timeless
truths that inspired us to move ever closer to greatness.
America is not
the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. America is a commonly held
culture that emerged from writing and approving these documents. Somewhere deep
inside, we know it’s important to preserve them as they were originally
intended. They are our heritage. It hurts when someone assaults them.
We often
hear laments that our politicians no longer honor their pledge to preserve,
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. This is backward.
The Constitution was not written for politicians. Our political leaders have no
motivation to abide by a two-hundred-year-old restraining order. Americans are
the ones who must enforce the supreme law of the land. The Constitution’s first,
outsized words are We the People. The people did “ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.” It’s our document. It was
always meant to be ours, not the government’s. We should always treat it as our
most prized possession because the Constitution is unique.
The Founders
didn’t set out to build a run-of-the-mill nation fit for people to inhabit.
Their aspirations went far higher. Early Americans worked for more than three
decades to craft a republic that would harness the worst in people, while
giving free rein to the best in people. The country didn’t start out perfect,
nor is it perfect today, but few other nations constantly strive to be nobler
tomorrow than they were the day before.
The
Constitution and our American culture were established using a few simple but
amazing principles. These principles collectively preserve liberty. Because we have
been fortunate, it’s difficult for Americans to remember that liberty is a
precious and highly unstable commodity. It takes the work of millions to
protect liberty, not just a few politicians. That’s why each and every American
has an obligation to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the
United States of America. Our children deserve nothing less.
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