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Dawn's Early Light
Adams:
''Posterity
-
you will never know how much it
has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I
hope you will make good use ofit.
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Need more reasons?
It
is the world's oldest living
Constitution. Commemorating its anniversary each and
every year is one way to encourage the American
people to get enthusiastic about it. In the process, we
get in touch with our heritage, through a renaissance of
patriotism. What a wonderful opportunity to place
greater emphasis on citizenship education. We can
make the Constitution an immediate part of our lives
and forestall the day when it could become ancient
history to us.
Thomas Jefferson, in acknowledging that
governments are made up of fallible people who tend to
abuse power, penned this profound observation:
'1n
questions of power.
. .
let no more be heard of
confidence in man but bind him down from mischiefby
the chains of the Constitution.
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Even today, after 26
amendments, the Constitution doesn't guarantee us a
full life, a long life, a happy life, nor a prosperous life.
It
guarantees the protection of life; we make of our
lives what we will.
The Preamble to the Constitution is indeed a fitting
summary of the entire document. Therein are
presented the basic responsibilities and limitations of
civil government in our country:
We the people of the United States in order
to form a more perfect Union, establish justice,
insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves
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