In short
Mayor Dave Maughan’s July column marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was drafted, signed, and delivered. He writes that the United States is the oldest written constitutional republic, and that part of its stability comes from how hard the Constitution is to amend and from leaving local questions to local authority. His closing point for residents: because this is a nation of the people by the people, we should all be most involved in our own local government. No city dates, deadlines, or decisions are announced in this column.
Everything else
- The mayor writes that this July marks 250 years since the founders drafted, signed, and delivered the Declaration of Independence.
- The column notes that the Constitution was not chartered until 1789, by some of the same founders, and that it has been amended a few times while the core document stands.
- He writes that the United States is the oldest written constitutional republic, and that no other country has survived longer under a single written contract of organization with its people.
- He attributes that longevity partly to how difficult the Constitution is to amend, and partly to founding documents that set out mutually held values while leaving more localized governing principles to local authority.
- The column quotes John Adams on the “toil, and blood, and treasure” of maintaining the Declaration, and Thomas Jefferson’s signers pledging “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” The mayor writes that residents should commit their efforts to preserving that for those who follow.
- Mayor Dave Maughan can be reached at [email protected] or 801-927-7752.
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