This Thursday, September 17th, 2009, will be the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the US Constitution. We have come a long way as a nation in that time, but have we gone the way our founding fathers intended us to go?

In his farewell address as the first and arguably the greatest President of the United States, George Washington made many references to our nation preserving its liberty by not becoming too entangled in foreign affairs.

Washington had endured a serious conflict as our nation’s first President. France and Britain were trying to convince the new nation to take a side in their long-contested war. So tense was this conflict that Thomas Jefferson, a supporter of France, resigned as Washington’s Secretary of State when Alexander Hamilton, a supporter of Britain, convinced Washington to sign on to the creation of a central bank.

Washington’s farewell speech was forward looking. He spoke of the dangers of our nation’s foreign entanglements, which could result in our government’s policies being influenced by foreign affairs and not the nation’s domestic needs. Washington’s warning held somewhat steady until the beginning of the 20th Century. Beginning with World War I and then continuing with World War II, the United States became a major player in the world’s affairs and has not looked back since.

Washington believed we could not truly be a free people if we allowed foreign affairs to be on an equal footing with domestic affairs. Washington was not a protectionist. He actually argued for free trade as he wrapped up his farewell speech. Washington was simply concerned that our nation would neglect the freedoms and liberties of our people if we let the opinions of foreign nations dictate our public policies.

America has seemed to stray from the founder’s vision on foreign affairs over the last century. America has strayed from the founder’s vision on domestic policy as well.

In 1913, the Congress of the United States passed the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution. This amendment then went to the legislatures of the states for ratification. The 17th Amendment took the power to appoint US Senators away from the state legislatures and allowed for the direct election of Senators.

On the surface, this seems like a fair policy. A closer look, however, shows that the balance of powers between the US Senate and the US House has been eliminated. By making the Senate a mirror image of the House, the Senate no longer has the ability to look out for the best interests of the states. Federalism, which limits the power of the Congress to federal matters and allows the states to have greater independence, has been dealt a serious blow.

Furthermore, the states have little to no recourse when the over arching arm of the federal government dictates the affairs of the states. That is precisely what has occurred these last 96 years.

Prior to the 17th Amendment, Senators looked out for the concerns of their own states. This was a Republican body of legislators that kept the US House, a Democratic body of legislators in check. For the last 96 years, we have operated more like a Democracy, not a Constitutional Republic as our founding fathers intended.

James Madison, known as the father of the United States Constitution to many historians, had this to say about the dangers of Democracy in the Federalist Papers (Federalist Number 10):

“Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

Listen to what John Adams had to say about Democracy:

“Democracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy, such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man’s life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure..."

Democracy is supposed to be about equality, but since it is rule by a majority, it does not take much for a majority of bad ideas to rule the day.

Thomas Jefferson had this to say about the failure of a Democracy: Continued...