Jun 9, 2020 3 min read

I have written before that the Declaration of Independence is our nation’s mission statement. It clearly states that the government’s mission is to protect our right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness – including things that give us happiness, such as property. The Constitution is our instruction manual. It tells the government what powers it has, and how they are to be used, to carry out our mission, and the list of government-granted powers was purposely short.

The Bill of Rights is our warranty, and although it was not originally part of the Constitution, during the debate over the Constitution’s ratification the people insisted that it include a document spelling out what rights they possessed that the government could never violate. They feared the Constitution gave too much power to the national government, and language in the Constitution giving Congress the power to pass laws promoting the “general welfare,” and what is “necessary and proper,” looked like open invitations to grab more power. Their fear was that Congress would decide for itself what was in the nation’s “general welfare” and what was “necessary and proper,” and what additional powers it needed to achieve both.

Therefore, although enough states (nine) finally ratified the Constitution, most only did so after insisting – and being promised – that in the first Congress created by that Constitution, amendments would be added spelling out their rights.

Think of it this way. A warranty is protection against a product not working as advertised, and the misgivings the people had in ratifying the Constitution was akin to them being wary of a product they had reluctantly bought.

Therefore, they demanded it come with a warranty. What if the new national government ignored the Declaration’s mission statement regarding protecting our life, liberty and property by expanding its powers beyond what the Constitution allows – thereby becoming a threat to our life, liberty and property? Then the Bill of Rights – by explaining what rights the people possess that the government cannot ever violate (” … nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” – Fifth Amendment), regardless of how many new powers, legal or otherwise, it accrued – well, that is also a protection against a product, in this case the government, not working as advertised.

Therefore, this week (June 8) in 1789, James Madison introduced in Congress amendments that spelled out the people’s rights. The states ratified 10 of them, our Bill of Rights.

Not incidentally, the 10th Amendment makes the warranty even stronger. It reminds the government that it possesses only those very few powers specifically given to it by the Constitution, while the people possess all but the very few rights specifically denied them by that Constitution.

Bruce G. Kauffmann’s e-mail address is bruce@historylessons.net/.