Few people are willing to criticize the myth that
"America is a democracy."
- The
deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787
were held in strict secrecy. Consequently, anxious
citizens gathered outside Independence Hall when the
proceedings ended in order to learn what had been
produced behind closed doors. The answer was provided
immediately. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin
Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a
republic or a monarchy?" With no hesitation
whatsoever, Franklin responded, "A
republic,
if you can keep it."
- This
exchange was recorded by Constitution signer James
McHenry in a diary entry that was later reproduced in the
1906 American Historical Review.
A
Republic, If You Can Keep It - The New American
We have not kept it.
The essential difference between a Republic and a
Democracy is that a Republic is under
law, while in a democracy, "the voice of
the people is the voice of God" (vox populi, vox
dei). In a Republic the People may democratically elect
their representatives, but their representatives do not
simply rubber-stamp the will of the people, but govern
according to the "organic law."
Republic
v. Democracy by David Barton, Wallbuilders.com
We have grown accustomed to hearing
that we are a democracy; such was never the intent. The
form of government entrusted to us by our Founders was
a republic, not a democracy.1
Our Founders had an opportunity to establish a
democracy in America and chose not to. In fact, the
Founders made clear that we were not, and were never to
become, a democracy:
[D]emocracies 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.2
James Madison
Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes,
exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a
democracy yet that did not commit suicide.3
John Adams
A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery
materials of its own destruction. These will produce
an eruption and carry desolation in their way.4
The known propensity of a democracy is to
licentiousness [excessive license] which the ambitious
call, and ignorant believe to be liberty.5
Fisher Ames, Author of the House Language for the
First Amendment
We have seen the tumult of democracy terminate . . .
as [it has] everywhere terminated, in despotism. . . .
Democracy! savage and wild. Thou who wouldst bring
down the virtuous and wise to thy level of folly and
guilt.6
Gouverneur Morris, Signer and Penman of
the Constitution
[T]he experience of all former ages had shown that of
all human governments, democracy was the most
unstable, fluctuating and short-lived.7
John Quincy Adams
A simple democracy . . . is one of the greatest of
evils.8
Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration
In democracy . . . there are commonly tumults and
disorders. . . . Therefore a pure democracy is
generally a very bad government. It is often the most
tyrannical government on earth.9
Noah Webster
Pure democracy cannot subsist long nor be carried far
into the departments of state, it is very subject to
caprice and the madness of popular rage.10
John Witherspoon, Signer of the
Declaration
It may generally be remarked that the more a
government resembles a pure democracy the more they
abound with disorder and confusion.11
Zephaniah Swift, Author of America's First Legal Text
Many Americans today seem to be unable to define the
difference between the two, but there is a difference,
a big difference. That difference rests in the source
of authority. |
Read the rest of this fine essay here.
The
Founding Fathers were passionately OPPOSED to democracy:
1. An example of this is demonstrated in the
anecdote where, having concluded their work on the
Constitution, Benjamin Franklin walked outside and seated
himself on a public bench. A woman approached him and
inquired, "Well, Dr. Franklin, what have you done for
us?" Franklin quickly responded, "My dear lady,
we have given to you a republic--if you can keep it."
Taken from "America's Bill of Rights at 200
Years," by former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger,
printed in Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. XXI, No. 3,
Summer 1991, p. 457. This anecdote appears in numerous
other works as well.
2. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, The
Federalist on the New Constitution (Philadelphia:
Benjamin Warner, 1818), p. 53, #10, James Madison.
3. John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of
the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston:
Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1850), Vol. VI, p. 484,
to John Taylor on April 15, 1814.
4. Fisher Ames, Works of Fisher Ames (Boston: T. B. Wait
& Co., 1809), p. 24, Speech on Biennial Elections,
delivered January, 1788.
5. Ames, Works, p. 384, "The Dangers of American
Liberty," February 1805.
6. Gouverneur Morris, An Oration Delivered on Wednesday,
June 29, 1814, at the Request of a Number of Citizens of
New-York, in Celebration of the Recent Deliverance of
Europe from the Yoke of Military Despotism (New York: Van
Winkle and Wiley, 1814), pp. 10, 22.
7. John Quincy Adams, The Jubilee of the Constitution. A
Discourse Delivered at the Request of the New York
Historical Society, in the City of New York on Tuesday, the
30th of April 1839; Being the Fiftieth Anniversary of the
Inauguration of George Washington as President of the
United States, on Thursday, the 30th of April, 1789 (New
York: Samuel Colman, 1839), p. 53.
8. Benjamin Rush, The Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H.
Butterfield, editor (Princeton: Princeton University Press
for the American Philosophical Society, 1951), Vol. I, p.
523, to John Adams on July 21, 1789.
9. Noah Webster, The American Spelling Book: Containing an
Easy Standard of Pronunciation: Being the First Part of a
Grammatical Institute of the English Language, To Which is
Added, an Appendix, Containing a Moral Catechism and a
Federal Catechism (Boston: Isaiah Thomas and Ebenezer T.
Andrews, 1801), pp. 103-104.
10. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon
(Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. VII, p. 101, Lecture 12 on
Civil Society.
11. Zephaniah Swift, A System of the Laws of the State of
Connecticut (Windham: John Byrne, 1795), Vol. I, p. 19.
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