Our Constitutional Heritage: An Evolutionary Framework

 

The American Constitution is an evolutionary rather than revolutionary document (McClellan, 1989). The Framers, meeting in Philadelphia after the failure of the Articles of Confederation to form a "more perfect union" (U.S. Const. pmbl.), drew heavily from existing political and governmental systems. Their influences included the English common law tradition, Greco-Roman history, and early American colonial experiments like the Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.

 

Ancient World Influences

 

Most delegates to the Constitutional Convention were highly educated in Greek philosophy and Latin literature, seeing the classical past as a dynamic force in American public life (McClellan, 1989).

 

Greek Democracy: A Model Rejected

 

The Founders studied Greek democracies but ultimately found them unsustainable and flawed. They defined pure democracy as a government where people govern themselves directly, legislating according to the "ever-changing whims of the majority" (Scaliger, 2018). The size of the United States made such a system impractical, but more importantly, the Framers feared its instability. Alexander Hamilton famously wrote that ancient democracies "never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity." Thus, Greek constitutional flaws primarily served as warnings about what the Framers "ought not to adopt" (McClellan, 1989).

 

Roman Republics: A Structural Inspiration

 

The Roman Republic was taken much more seriously by leading Americans in the 1780s (McClellan, 1989). Educated Americans studied its history, and Latin was the language of political discourse at the time, evidenced by constitutional terms like president, senate, and constitution itself. The Framers drew inspiration from Roman republican concepts such as federalism and representative government. Crucially, they learned from the republic's eventual collapse into tyranny, adding protections like the separation of powers to prevent too much authority from consolidating in the hands of one person or a small group.

 

English Common Law and American Experience

 

While ancient models offered inspiration for structure, the largest and most practical influence on the Framers was English common law and the American colonial experience. Common law was already familiar to Americans, making it easier to adapt than an entirely new system.

English common law traditions were mostly unwritten but were founded upon a few key documents that served as the basis for American rights:

  • Magna Charta (1215): Established limits on executive power and the right to trial by jury.

  • Petition of Right (1628): Challenged the king's authority to impose taxes without Parliament's consent.

  • Bill of Rights (1689): Guaranteed several individual liberties and restricted the monarchy.

These three documents, which constituted "the Bible of the English Constitution" (McClellan, 1989), provided the source for many individual rights enumerated in the U.S. Constitution and its amendments.

 

Conclusion

 

The Constitution of the United States is not a wholly original document, but a carefully constructed synthesis. It is derived from many other systems of government, primarily the traditions and documents of English common law, while integrating structural lessons from Roman republics and rejecting the instability of Greek democracy. The American colonial experience served as the final crucible, testing these foreign ideas under new conditions.

As observed by the Founders themselves, they "formed the design of a great Confederacy, which it is incumbent on their successors to improve and perpetuate" (Hamilton et al., 2020). The U.S. Constitution represents an unparalleled evolutionary achievement in establishing a government of limited powers based on law.

 

 

References

Hamilton, A., Madison, J., & Jay, J. (2020). The Federalist Papers: Large Print Unabridged 1787 Original Version. Independently published.

McClellan, James. Liberty, Order, and Justice: An Introduction to the Constitutional Principles

           of American Government. 3rd Edition. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2000.

Scaliger, C. (2018, May 07). What Happens When Republics Fall? The New American, 34, 27.

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