Civics U: COVENANTS, CONTRACTS, CONSTITUTIONS
King, emperor, empress, sovereign, queen, tsar, sultan, pharaoh – whatever the title, monarchs have ruled throughout history in many countries in many different ways. Some have ruled based on belief in a divine right; some from an imposed rule. They have ranged from benevolent royalty to ruthless dictators. And there have always been issues regarding the role and power of a monarch in relationship to the people. How does the monarchy treat the people? What limits, if any, are there on the monarchy’s power(s)? Do the people have any rights, or protection from injustices?
The history of Western governments, and of the United States, is one of a gradual lessening of, and finally a rejection of, central monarchy, and an increase and establishment of the role of the people. Nevertheless, concerns about the power and powers of governments, mainly the federal government, continue today. Anarchy does not bring freedom. In fact certain freedoms depend on government protection, but the government can also encroach on freedoms.
The seeds and roots of American democracy include theological and philosophical ideas as well as political measures taken in response to specific misuses of power. Key concepts and structures that contributed to our form of government are found in the following:
Covenant theology
The Magna Carta
Covenantal government (John Knox)
Social contract (John Locke , et al)
Mayflower Compact
Articles of Confederation
Declaration of Independence
U.S. Constitution
COVENANTAL THEOLOGY
A covenant is an agreement between parties. In Christian theology it refers to agreements between God and people and between people in their relationship with God. There are covenants in the Old Testament and a new covenant in the New Testament.
“In America, covenant theology became the foundation for civic as well as church government. In the Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims agreed to “covenant and combine [them]selves together in to a civil body politic …Similar beliefs also came to America with the Puritans, Anabaptists, independent Presbyterians, and other dissenting Protestants.”
“Covenant beliefs also laid the foundation for the constitutional principles of popular sovereignty, limited government, supreme law, inalienable rights, and private and public virtue….The principle that the origins of society and government rested upon the common consent of the people was familiar throughout the colonies. The 1780 Massachusetts Constitution stated: “The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals. It is a social compact….”
This involved rejection of absolute authority and the belief that rulers were subject to limitations and boundaries defined in the civil covenant…. But …as long as a leader or government acted within the sphere of authority established by covenant, the people were obligated to obey. In this manner, covenant-believers moved themselves, and eventually an entire nation, from the rule of men to the rule of law.” Seeing the Constitution as Covenant | (churchofjesuschrist.org).
MAGNA CARTA
“In 1215 King John, facing a possible rebellion by the country’s barons, agreed to a charter of liberties known as the Magna Carta (or Great Charter) that would place England’s sovereigns within a rule of law. This was effectively the first written constitution in European history.
The benefits of the charter were reserved for the elite classes, while the majority of English citizens still lacked a voice in government. In the 17th century, however…the new Petition of Right and the Habeas Corpus Act which states that ‘no free man shall be…imprisoned or [dispossessed]… except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land’…had dramatic implications for future legal systems in Britain and America.
In 1776, rebellious American colonists looked to the Magna Carta as a model for their demands of liberty from the English crown…. Its legacy is evident in the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution, especially in the Fifth Amendment (‘Nor shall any persons be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law’).” Magna Carta | HISTORY (History.com).
COVENANTAL GOVERNMENT
The Scottish reformer John Knox (c. 1514 – 1572) systematized the Biblical doctrines of covenanted government. Knox held that civil government was bound by four covenants: the covenant of the King with the creator, of the King with the people, of the people toward the king, and of the people with God. Knox taught that if any of these covenants are broken, corrective action not only could be, but must be taken. It is the breaking of the second covenant that is addressed in the Declaration of Independence when it lists the grievances against the King. http://EzineArticles.com/4375299.
SOCIAL CONTRACT
English philosopher John Locke (1632-17104) opposed the divine right of kings and believed that people’s natural rights included the right to life, liberty, and property.
To Locke when people formed a state they made a “social contract” that defined the rights and duties of its members and of its rulers. In this the people surrender some of their rights to government in exchange for the protection and peaceful social existence that the law provides.” But the people then also have power to change government, even by revolution if necessary.
Locke thought that the human right to property begins with oneself – that one’s soul is one’s own property, but his idea of the body was different – that our bodies are the property of God. It is therefore a natural law not to kill—murder was directly harming the property of God.
Locke’s ideal consists of a small government with limited scope and limited power….
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), following Locke, dreamt of a United States with small-scale farmers living by their own means, off of their own land, and with no interference….
John Locke’s Philosophy: Five Key Ideas (thecollector.com).
MAYFLOWER COMPACT
The Mayflower Compact of 1620 was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was signed on board the Mayflower ship before the group landed, and stated that “it was thought good there should be an association and agreement, that we should combine together in one body, and to submit to such government and governor as we should, by common consent, agree to make and choose, and set our hands to this that follows, word for word”.
“IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, … the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, …Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid… unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience.”
It was the first document to establish democratic self-government in the New World. Mayflower Compact – Definition, Purpose & Significance | HISTORY (History.com).
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
The Articles of Confederation, passed by the US Continental Congress in November 1777, was “the founding constitution of the United States.” It established a central government, but with limited powers. The sovereignty of the states as a single nation is made clear in the following Articles:
II…”Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated” to the new federal government called the “United States, in Congress Assembled” (USCA);[16].
III. Establish the Sovereign States as one Sovereign nation “. . . for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them . . . ;” Articles of Confederation.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The Declaration reflects John Locke’s and others’ views of natural law and of the divine right and responsibility of the people.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When…it becomes necessary for one people … to 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….
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it….
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare.… And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
U.S. CONSTITUTION
The Constitution continues the theme of government by the people.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Article I Section 2 then directs that the House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second year by the People. And the 17th Amendment directs that the Senate shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people.
BORN INTO
It is interesting that once the original founders made a social contract and formed a new union and country, native born citizens do not join this union. They inherit it. We are born into it. We inherit our membership, our citizenship. Apart from leaving the country and renouncing our citizenship, we cannot opt out of our membership and duties. And we cannot without due cause exempt ourselves from the right or duty to participate in things that we may not like, such as paying taxes, registering for the draft, social security; or from defending the freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, voting, and so on. We are members. We are citizens. We have certain rights, and a responsibility to preserve those rights. What we do with this heritage of freedom, of inalienable rights, of limited government, and of government by the people will determine what our coming generations inherit.