Under the baobab: Constitution Day highlights the hearts and hopes of ‘we the people’
Happy birthday, fellow Americans.
Most consider the Fourth of July to be America’s birthday. Our nation was actually born 233 years ago, Sept. 17, 1787. Thirty-nine of the 55 people assembled in what became known as Constitution Hall in Philadelphia signed a document that they had been drafting since May 25. Its preamble began: “We the people of the United States.” Not quite.
The signers were all white European men. Most had come from settlements which legally enslaved African people. Twenty-five “owned” enslaved people themselves. More than half had been trained as lawyers. All were comfortably wealthy property owners. Two of them, George Washington of Virginia and Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, were among the richest men in the new country.
The Constitution they created was profound, in its conception, its explication and its speciousness. It proposed to establish a nation which would secure “the blessing of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.” It was a remarkable, hopeful ambition forged in the furnace of revolutionary struggle. It was to be founded upon Enlightenment principles of representative democracy and God-bestowed individual rights. The framework was based primarily on James Madison’s ideas — a strong central government with power distributed to tripartite branches with built-in checks and balances.
Still it was not yet “we the people.” The overwhelming majority of America’s residents were not recognized as full citizens. Women, original native people, non-propertied white men, and the 20% of the population held in permanent bondage were legislatively denied the right to vote. However, the Constitution had devised a methodology, the amendment process, which allowed those blessings to be extended. Beginning with the first 10 amendments (the Bill of Rights), the individual rights and freedoms which we enjoy today expanded their inclusivity, particularly in the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth amendments.
By 1856, white men were allowed to vote in all states regardless of property ownership. However, during the same period several states including Pennsylvania and New Jersey stripped free black males of their right to vote.
After the Civil War, the civil rights amendments, the 13th, 14th and 15th, liberated enslaved people and bestowed full citizenship rights on them. Unfortunately, those freedoms were abrogated through the terrorism of white supremacists under the cloak of racial separation.
But, “we the people” — a compelling idea — could not easily be quashed.
A hundred years ago through the struggle and sacrifice of courageous suffragettes the 19th Amendment was enacted which expanded the franchise to women, the other half of the population.
In 1971, during the Vietnam War, it was thought that Americans old enough to be drafted were old enough to be allowed to vote. The 26th Amendment expanded the franchise to 18-year-old voters.
We the people came closer.
In 1987 our theater company, LAF, was privileged to participate in the bicentennial celebration of the Constitution. With Bushfire Theatre of Philadelphia, we produced “Years of Struggle, Years of Freedom,” the only play written and produced by African Americans to be part of the official event. After performing in front of Independence Hall, we toured the play to high schools in the Philly, New York and New Jersey areas. It was even performed at the Edinburgh, Scotland International Theatre Festival.
On July 4, 2003, within a musket shot across from Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center opened its doors. One of its permanent and popular performance exhibits is “Freedom Rising, the Story of the Constitution.” It was created and continues to be nurtured by Nora Berger Quinn, a proud graduate of Penn State’s theater program. Jeffrey Rosen, the president of the NCC, proudly hosted the debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign. The center has hosted important speeches by other political dignitaries like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Lewis, George Bush and John McCain. “We the people“ kept on keeping on.
In 2017 Sen. Bob Casey held a campaign rally in Centre Hall. Former Centre County Commissioner Keith Bierly noticed that the Casey rally was on the same day as the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. He gathered a bunch of citizens to plan a commemorative event. It showcased Mike the Mailman, Professor Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Anne Ard of the Centre County Women’s Resource Center, Savita Iyer, Professor Dwain Wright, Professor Jo Dumas, Vicki Fong and others. The celebration was held at the Grandstand, Grange Park Centre Hall. That gathering evolved into the Constitution Day Centre Celebration (CDCC) organization which has held anniversary celebrations each year since.
This year the CDCC commemoration will be held online. It will feature the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment with videos from Heroes from the 19th Amendment, League of Women Voters, AAUW, Ni-Ta-Nee NOW, We Are Science, Centre LGBTQA and Moms Demand Action. CDCC has also teamed with Centre County NAACP and Strategies for Justice to produce a special video on the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. There will also be Zoom lectures by Dr. Greg Ferro.
We the people, meaning all the people, may not have been in the heads of those 39 gentry 233 years ago. But it has been in hearts and hopes of millions of people who have climbed off boats and planes, swam across the Rio Grande, and walked across the walled and unwalled borders since then. Happy Birthday, America.