Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Beau’s sister mentioned this in a comment to one of last week’s posts, but I thought I’d flesh it out a bit more after a conversation I had with a guy in the lunch room yesterday. We had the news on the TV (of course) and the topic was the slight stall in the progress of the Iraqi Consitution. So the guy said something to the effect of “I can’t believe it’s taking so long for them to resolve the consitution over there.” My jaw dropped in disbelief and then I realized that a lot of people might think the same way.

“You do realize that they held their very first democratic elections in January, right? That they’re this close to having a completed Consitutional document is actually amazing. It’s only 8 months. How long do you think it took for our own Constitution to be completed and ratified?” I asked.

He stammered, “I don’t know [ed. - thank you American public school system]. A couple of years, maybe?”

ME: So you’re willing to give us a couple of years, but not them?

And then I shared a little of the following (note that some of the statements are my own, some are from Wikipedia):

1. The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776.

2. A year before [the signing of the Declaration], war had broken out between the colonies and Britain, a war for independence that lasted for six bitter years.

3. While still at war, the colonies now calling themselves the United States of America drafted a compact that bound them together as a nation. The compact, designated the “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union,” was adopted by a congress of the states in 1777 and formally signed in July 1778. The Articles became binding when they were ratified by the thirteenth state, Maryland, in March 1781.

4. On February 21, 1787, Congress resolved: “It is expedient that on the second Monday in May next a Convention of delegates who shall have been appointed by the several States be held at Philadelphia for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.”

5. The period between the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 and the drafting of the Constitution in 1787 was one of weakness, dissension, and turmoil. [ed. - sound familiar?] Under the Articles of Confederation, no provisions were made for an executive branch to enforce the laws or for a national court system to interpret them.

6. Read this information about the Ratification process. It’s too lengthy for me to quote. The gist? It wasn’t completely ratified until 1788 with the requisite 9 of 13 states. Massachusetts required some changes and the first 10 Amendments were added in 1791 by James Madison - they are known as the Bill of Rights. The final 4 states bickered and the last one (Rhode Island) on board with the amended Constitution voted their approval in 1790.

7. The American Federal Government was not established until 1789 with the election of George Washington as the first American President.

Just a few snippets of our beginning history and a little perspective for those who naysay the minor delays in the work of creating the Iraqi consitution. If it takes them a year it’s fantastic - it took us at least 13 years.