Steven Bender Survey of Government September 28, 2024 The Constitution With “Establishing Justice” And “Promoting General Welfare”

The United States Constitution is a rubric for running the United States of America. It was created to help govern the people and the government. There are six objectives the United States Constitution has to help govern us as a country. The six are “a more perfect union,” “establishing justice,” “insure domestic tranquility,” “provide for the common defense,” “promote general welfare,” and "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” Today, we are going to focus on two—my personal favorites. We are going to discuss “establishing justice” and “promoting general welfare.” We will dive into what these objectives mean, what they were designed for, and whether we meet them today. We will also decide at the end if we are doing a good job or going backward. What does “establishing justice” mean? Establishing justice derives from how the Founding Fathers were treated. American citizens before the Constitution were treated unjustly. The Founding Fathers wanted a way for American citizens to be treated fairly in the court of law and for people to be brought to justice in an impartial manner. "Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit."— James Madison, The Federalist No. 51. This quote shows the extent to which James Madison cared about the pursuit of justice. Establishing justice is the fair treatment of American citizens and upholding the laws of the country. In today’s world, I do think that we are upholding “establishing justice.” America has always been ahead of the curve in many ways, and I think we continue to stay on that path. In every trial, no matter someone’s financial status, they get a lawyer. They get read their rights at arrest and have a randomly selected jury of their peers decide the outcome of their trial. Have innocent people gone to jail? Yes, innocent people have gone to jail. Although the system is great, it is not perfect. Unfortunately, the jury wasn’t there. They are not all-knowing. But I do not think that mistakes equal something not being good. Our justice system is far fairer to citizens than other countries’. Even in a “modern” country like France, sentencing is mainly up to the judge, which can allow more room for bribes, for example. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” — Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? I think this shows that we can improve on our mistakes and continue on the right path. What does “promoting general welfare” mean? “Promoting general welfare” generally refers to creating a safe and stable environment for us, the citizens. Despite popular belief, a lot of people do get into politics because they want to help people. Different things that fall under “general welfare” are the military, the police, firefighters, and public schools. All policies signed are for the benefit of us, the people. One way or another, we are trying to create a stable environment where ideally everyone is happy with the country they live in. In today’s world, I do believe that the basics of “promoting general welfare” are met. We are not being invaded. Our kids have access to school, single mothers get financial help from the government, and if you get shot, regardless of financial status, they have to treat you in the hospital. There are scenarios where politics do seem more like a game. As a country develops, there typically will be more division. It makes sense. The more that happens, the more people will want to reflect on the past and have different opinions on the best way to proceed. “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”— Thomas Jefferson. I do believe we try our best to stay connected to our moral roots. I do believe that we as a society are doing a good job at moving forward and doing our due diligence to uphold both “promoting general welfare” and “establishing justice.” But are they as good as they used to be? Yes and no. I do believe that there are times we have messed up. There have been policy decisions made to increase certain stock prices. Is that bad? Yes, but we are doing things to fix that. There are different decisions going around to limit what someone is allowed to buy when they have the ability and influence they do. “Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1816. This is a great quote by Thomas Jefferson. It shows how wise the Founding Fathers were. They were not ignorant. They knew that change would come, and you have to move forward with change and not be stuck in the past. Conclusion Today, we looked at two key foundations of the American Constitution. My hope is for us to reflect. We need the ability to critique ourselves to improve. The problem is we tend to remember the bad more than the good. We need to look at the pure facts. In America, we have it much better than in other places in the world. Our key values, even if they stray occasionally, do continue on the right path. The hope is to continue reflection and improvement, not just on the Constitution but in life as well.

Biola University semester 1 Work cited
1. James Madison, Federalist No. 51, in The Federalist Papers, ed. Clinton Rossiter (New
York: Penguin Books, 1961), 322.
2. Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (Boston:
Beacon Press, 1967), 211.
3. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Republicans of Washington County, Maryland, March
31, 1809, in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Barbara B. Oberg (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2004), 16:19.
4. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1816, in The Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, ed. H. A. Washington (Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Maury, 1854), 7:10.