We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are

endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty,

and the pursuit of happiness.

These of course are stirring words from America's Declaration of Independence.

They are the foundation of America's commitment to civil liberty.

We accept them as a given now, but only because we know America's history.

At the time they presented a serious challenge to the founders of our nation, could they

create a governing structure that would match the high moral standards they had set for

themselves?

Their first attempt did not go well.

The Articles of Confederation, the document that governed the country through the Revolutionary

War and for a few years after, was such a miserable failure that many in England and America

thought the new nation would soon collapse and return had in hand to the Mother Country.

The American's weariness of central power was understandable.

Americans had fought and died to win freedom from an oppressive government.

They weren't about to give away that hard one freedom to a new government of their own

making.

The Articles allowed for no central authority to speak of.

There was no chief executive, no effective way to impose or collect taxes, no provision

for the national defense, all the power belonged to the individual states, and since the

states disagreed on so many issues, almost nothing got done.

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 brilliantly solved this problem.

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