We are just beginning our journey into the Constitution, last time we worked on the first three words of the Preamble. Now we will delve into the very first goal of this Constitution.
"In Order To Form A More Perfect Union" Now that is a mouthful. What the heck does more perfect mean? How can you improve upon a perfection, right? It's either perfect or it is not. Is this American Exceptionalism...we are already perfect but now we will be more perfect? No, but to understand this phrase and the reason why this goal is FIRST we need to some background and context.
Let's face it, we cannot talk about the Constitution and really understand it without understanding its predecessor, the Articles of Confederation.
I know that most Americans actually have some background when it comes to this first Constitution but almost everything our citizens know about it can be summed up in one word: weak. Was it really weak? Sure, there were no executive or judicial branches. The national government could not tax (even if the states could and certainly did). There was no national army and no unified currency. So what? As weak as this may seem because it is so different from the world Americans inherit today, we should remember it lasted for a decade. It was not like these rules evolved, these so-called deficiencies were present from day one. So while most Americans focus on "weakness", historians and educators focus on another word to explain the fall of the Articles of Confederation: Shays. Daniel Shays is the man who helped create the first goal of this Preamble because it was his action that led to a rather imperfect union (also hurts domestic tranquility, but we will get to that). Shays, an American Revolutionary war veteran, is facing imprisonment due to debt which in this era was more like a life sentence because paying off debt in jail was next to impossible. Shays was a strong leader and he pointed out the hypocrisy that he dealt with delayed payment and the "debt" America owed him during the war because of his belief in the vision of what this country could be. Now they will not reciprocate. His image, his words and his circumstance unite a group of people throughout America and an insurrection is afoot. Shays banded together 4,000 citizens in Massachusetts and subsequent uprisings throughout the nation of similar debtors led to genuine panic. George Washington, enjoying his private life in Mount Vernon, was galvanized by this moment and realized the military leader had to come to the aid of his country once more. As he wrote to a colleague in October 1786: "Commotions of this sort, like snow-balls, gather strength as they roll, if there is no opposition in the way to divide and crumble them. . . I am mortified beyond expression that in the moment of our acknowledged independence we should by our conduct verify the predictions of our transatlantic foe [England], and render ourselves ridiculous and contemptible in the eyes of all Europe.” What predictions you ask? I'll let this clip suffice.
The Articles of Confederation expiration date had arrived.
So what does "more perfect union" mean.? I'll let this other blog explain: "Sometimes an absolute adjective can legitimately be qualified for rhetorical effect. I think the phrase “a more just society” might be an example of this, similar to the phrase “a more perfect union” in the Preamble to the Constitution. I believe both phrases (“more just” and “more perfect”) can be effective and can be justified when they refer to a striving further toward justice or perfection, rather than an ideal of justice or perfection. The expressions “closer to just” or “closer to perfect” may be more logical, but they have less rhetorical power." I agree that this is an elegant but grandiose idea, edging closer and closer to perfection without realistically ever making it. Of course, the perfection we are looking for COULD have been anything but their goal was UNION. Remember, the United States of America and E Plurbis Unum are phrases that deal with the duality of our American image. We are one AND we are many. Is the proper grammar "The United States is" or "The United States are"? The answer depends on what time period of American history we are discussing. This identity struggle between national and local identities will play out throughout this document so keep that in the back of your mind. Also remember that America is not feeling particularly unified at this exact moment in time. We will discuss this more in the future because if you finished this article, you deserve a reward. Good work!
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