1787 to 2002

The Constitutional Convention to the National Security Strategy

Two hundred and fifteen years ago our forefathers convened in Philadelphia to craft the Constitution of the United States. That was an epic moment in human history and the delegates to the convention knew it. They knew forming a union of such disparate states would be a unique challenge. The delegates from North Carolina wrote their governor "A union of sovereign states, preserving the civil liberties and connected by ties as to preserve permanent and effective governments is a system not described, it is a circumstance that has not occurred in the history of mankind."

Now the United States is confronting a new challenge: forming a union with the other nations of the world into an international community ruled by law instead of military and economic might. This is how it should be - a natural evolution of civilized men and women towards a more unified form of governance. The men at the Constitutional Convention understood their responsibility towards a union for the greater good. Unfortunately the administration of President George W. Bush has lost the inspiration of our forefathers. The Bush Administration even states in their own National Security Strategy "The U.S. national security strategy will be based on a distinctly American internationalism that reflects the union of our values and our national interests." http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html

Disquieting the Bush Administration speaks of our values and our national interests. This is a far cry from George Washington who wrote during the convention about how he feared the monster - sovereignty. Washington, as President of the Convention, knew that local prejudices, the desire for independent sovereignty, and special interests all ran counter to the general good.

We at a time in human history and the march of civilization to seriously start viewing the world as a single economic and political entity to be governed by the United Nations. http://www.un.org/ At the Constitutional Convention James Wilson commented "Why should a national government be unpopular? Will a citizen of Delaware be degraded by becoming a citizen of the United States?" Today it could be said "Why should an international government be unpopular? Will a citizen of the United States be degraded by becoming a citizen of the United Nations?"

Opponents of the United Nations, of whom there are too many to even enumerate, are the Anti-Federalists of this day. Anti-Federalists in 1787-88 made the argument that the nation was too big, too widely extended for a central government as proposed: congressmen from New Hampshire would never understand and sympathize with the needs of Virginia or the Carolinas. James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, replied: "Let it not be forgotten there is a probability that the ignorance which is complained of in some parts of America will be continually diminishing ... Does not our own experience teach us that the people are better informed than they were a few years ago? The citizen of Georgia knows more now of the affairs of New Hampshire that he did, before the Revolution, of those of South Carolina. When the representatives from the different states are collected together ... they will interchange their knowledge with one another, and will have the laws of each state on the table." The delegates at the Constitutional Convention knew the world was getting smaller every day. They also understood that dialogue and rapprochement were the keys to understanding, cooperation, and building a union for the greater good.

The Bush Administration's National Security Strategy states "The United States possesses unprecedented - and unequaled - strength and influence in the world ... This is also a time of opportunity for America. " If Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Madison, et all were alive today they'd be utilizing this opportunity to move humankind and civilization forward to the next greater goal: an international form of government. Regrettably the Bush Administration has lost the vision that made this nation great. To everyone on this small planet's detriment the Bush Administration is moving the United States backwards towards isolating sovereignty, and corporate profits over human rights.