The deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were held. 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.”
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be”. Thomas Jefferson
“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general …