A Reflection on Service, the Declaration, and the Constitution

As the Nation concludes its celebration of 250 years of independence, the fair sites are cleaned up, and the bunting taken down, we enter a time of reflection about what this holiday has meant for all Americans, but especially those who have answered the call to serve in America’s Armed Forces. The American military tradition predates the Nation’s founding in 1776.  The Continental Army played midwife to the fledgling United States.  By signing the Declaration, the delegates of the Second Continental Congress chose what brave men in the Continental Army made possible, and declared what they had proved with blood and sacrifice at battles like Bunker Hill and the siege of Boston; that America could  “assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them.”[1]  The role of the military in upholding this truth for a quarter millennium is something everyone who has ever sworn the oath of service and worn the American flag on their shoulder can be justly proud of.  It is a glorious tradition in which we all play our own small part, a shared story, and a proud legacy.

But this moment is the beginning, not the end, of a special remembrance.  Between now and September 17, 2037, the Nation marks the time between the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution.  The latter document holds special significance for every Service member, as it is the charter we are sworn to uphold and defend.  More than that, the American military played as important a role in the writing of the Constitution as it did for the Declaration.  It was, after all, the former Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington, who presided as president of the Constitutional Convention.  Further, Alexander Hamilton, himself a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, played an active role in the Constitutional Convention and would later help secure the ratification of the Constitution as part of the trio that wrote the Federalist Papers.  So many of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were former members of the Continental Army and colonial militias (more than half in fact) that it was practically a reunion.  It must be said that none of this would have been possible without the hard-won peace secured by the Continental Army, which allowed the new Nation to establish not one but two systems of government in a decade.  The Constitution relied as much, if not more, on the Nation’s Army than the Declaration which preceded it.

More than reliance on the military’s strength of arms and the strength of its veterans’ character unites the Declaration and the Constitution, however.  They have always had a close and necessary relationship that goes beyond their shared home in the National Archives.  The same high ideals that animate the Declaration’s rhetoric echo in the Constitution but also provide the underlying logic and framework of our republican form of government.  James Wilson, the only Founding Father to sign both the Declaration and the Constitution, explicitly made this point during a speech he delivered to the Pennsylvania ratifying convention on 4 December 1787.  Wilson read a passage from the Declaration, beginning with the most famous lines about self-evident truths and inalienable rights, but continuing  to share with convention that “to secure these rights, governments are instituted amongst men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and that it was the right of the people to “institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such forms, as to them shall seem most likely to secure their safety and happiness.”  Drawing a direct link between this famous passage of the Declaration and the Constitution, Wilson told the convention, “This is the broad basis on which our independence was placed.  On the same certain and solid foundation this [the Constitution] is erected.” [2]

James Wilson may have been first to link the Constitution and Declaration so explicitly, but Lincoln arguably made the case best.  On the eve of the Civil War and in response to a letter from former congressional colleague Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, Lincoln wrote about the same passage Wilson read to the Pennsylvania ratifying convention some 74 years earlier.  Drawing on a simile from Proverbs 25:11, Lincoln said that the principle put forth in that passage was “‘a word fitly spoken’ which has proved an ‘apple of gold’ to us.”  Continuing, Lincoln linked not just the Constitution but the Nation to that principle, saying “The Union, and the Constitution, are the picture of silver, subsequently framed around it.  The picture was made not to conceal or destroy the apple; but to adorn and preserve it. The picture was made for the apple.”[3]  

Lincoln closed his note with a solemn call to action, “So let us act, that neither the picture or apple shall ever be blurred or bruised or broken.”  These words give meaning to the oath all Service members swear when they pledge their lives to “defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States.”  It is not only a pledge to uphold a system of government, but it is also a blood oath to defend a government instituted to secure the inalienable rights set forth in the Declaration and to defend truths that are self-evident. 

It is arguably the highest honor our military has earned that a long line of patriots, down through two and a half centuries, has heeded that call.  Rejecting the temptation to do what was popular rather than what was right and doing what the oath required even if it was contentious, the military has been a sure guardian of both the apple of gold and the frame of silver.  Whether fighting far off foes in foreign wars, responding to natural disasters, or ensuring domestic tranquility here at home, the North Star of our Founding documents ensured the Nation’s military did what the Nation required.  This is a proud tradition.  If the military can hold fast to it, there is no reason to doubt that both the military and the Nation will celebrate the Declaration and the Constitution for a long time to come.

 So as America’s 250th birthday festivities fade from present impression to cherished memory and we begin the countdown to the 250th anniversary of our Constitution, let every Service member heed Lincoln’s call.  Let us take this time between the two great celebrations to reflect on the link between these documents and rededicate ourselves to both.  Let it be more than a passing thought and take this time to rediscover works such as the Federalist Papers or James Madison’s journals from the Constitutional Convention.  Hit the books!  Constitution Day 2037 will be here sooner than you think.  Until the next 250th!

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MAJ Richard Brantley, U.S. Army. Rich Brantley served as an Adjutant General and Judge Advocate at I Corps HQ, the Aviation Center of Excellence, and the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, among others.   He is currently the Legal Advisor for the COVID Reinstatement and Reconciliation Task Force (R2TF) at the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) in the Pentagon.

MAJ Kier Elmonairy, U.S. Army.  Kier Elmonairy served as an Armor officer and Judge Advocate at the 173d Airborne Brigade, 7th Army, and the Maneuver Center of Excellence, among others.   He is currently the Brigade Judge Advocate for the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3d Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia.

This article represents the opinions of the authors alone; it does not represent the opinions or policies of the U.S. Army, the Department of War, or the United States Government.

image: “The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill” by John Trumbull (1786) 

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