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2. By Dawn's Early Light
Although America was conceived on July 4, 1776,
the actual birthday of our nation was September 17,
1787, when our Constitutional Convention produced its
historic document.
The era between the end of the War for
Independence and adoption of the Constitution was
difficult and the outcome was in doubt. The favored
colonial privileges in British markets were lost to
American commercial interests. Capital for investment
was scarce, and competition with British manufacturers
was severe. American entrepreneurs survived by
turning to state governments for tariff protection and by
successfully seeking
ne~
markets overseas.
States continued the regulative mercantilist policies
of the prerevolutionary period, which hindered the flow
of trade and commerce among the states. Monetary
problems could not be solved as long as state
governments retained the power to issue paper money.
The need for a strong central government to establish
a political and economic framework for a unified
national American economy became increasingly
evident.
Fast forwarding to today, there remain many
unanswered questions. Even the first verse of our
National Anthem ends with a question mark:
Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet
wave O'er the land of the free and the home of
the brave?
Why bother, late in the 20th century, to
commemorate a piece of faded parchment? Consider
this haunting mandate from yesteryear by John Quincy
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