According to Respectfully Quoted: a Dictionary of Quotes, at the close of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked whether the delegates had produced a Republic or a Monarchy. Franklin replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” What the delegates had done was draft the Constitution of the United States which, when ratified by all the states two years later, had transformed the United States from a loose confederation of states bound by the Articles of Confederation to a Republic establishing, in 'article 6, that: this Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be enacted in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall constitute the supreme law of the land; and the judges of every State shall be bound thereby, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the Constitution or laws of any State. But 228 years later, is the Constitution still the supreme law of the land? To answer this question, we must understand why this language was included in the Constitution. Recall that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was called because the Articles of Confederation weren't working very well. According to the articles, the states held almost all the power. There was no president, no legislature, and no judiciary. It was a very decentralized system of government. In a 2012 article, Alison LaCroix, tells us that James Madison, through his studies of a variety of governments, found that many ancient and modern confederations had been destroyed by lack of submission to a very decentralized system of government. central authority. He believed that Congress should have the final say on the legislative process to the point of intervening in the legislative processes of the states. Madison... center of card... yes. Even today the government structure follows the rules. There are Supreme Court rulings, bills passed and rejected in the Senate and House of Representatives, and the President continues to veto and sign laws. Our system of government has not changed and Edwin Meese III sums it up perfectly when he says: The Constitution – the original document of 1787 plus its amendments – is and should be understood as the standard against which all laws, policies and policies should be measured. and interpretations. . It is our fundamental law because it represents the consolidated and deliberate will of the people, against which the actions of government officials must measure themselves. Ultimately, the continued success and vitality of our Democratic Republic depends on our faithfulness and faithful exposition and interpretation of this Constitution, our great Charter of Freedom.. (5-6)