The full Constitution Day video is available for use and can be accessed here or by clicking the image above.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis encouraged all Floridians to celebrate September 17th as Constitution Day in commemoration of the date when the Founding Fathers signed the U.S. Constitution in 1787. In recognition of Constitution Day, Governor DeSantis released a video about the importance of the Constitution and civic engagement in setting the framework on which a federal republic was created for its citizens, ensuring a limited government with separations of power and checks and balances.
Written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and put into operation in 1789, the U.S. Constitution remains the world’s oldest written constitution still in use today because its novel concept of a government with constrained authority over the lives of its citizenry is grounded in the Founding Father’s timeless understanding of human nature. As expressed by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in Federalist 51, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” At a time of unprecedented threats to the Founding Fathers’ vision of the American Republic as a system of government which would “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,” Governor DeSantis encourages all Floridians to spend some time today reflecting on the importance of maintaining our rights as United States citizens and bear in mind the words of Benjamin Franklin that he and the other Framers of the Constitution created for us “a republic, if you can keep it.”
The full remarks of the video are as follows: Hello, this is Governor Ron DeSantis wishing everybody a happy Constitution Day and on this day it is worth reflecting on how fortunate the United States of America is to have inherited a strong written constitution. That was not the norm when our country was founded. Our country was founded on the idea that our rights come from our Creator, not from government, and the Constitution that was framed by our Founding Fathers was designed to protect our preexisting rights and to create a framework of government that would preserve individual freedom and that framework has served us well. At the same time, we see a lot of threats in recent years to the Constitution. It requires eternal vigilance. As President Reagan said, “Freedom is one generation away from going extinct. It is not passed along in the bloodstream.”
When Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention, which was conducted in secret, he was asked on the street of Philadelphia by somebody, “Dr. Franklin, what have you given us? A republic or a monarchy?,” and Dr. Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.” They understood you could have an important framework. They understood it was necessary to have a strong framework. But they also understood the success of the Constitution and a republican system of government would ultimately depend on the vigilance of the American people. Take time to reflect on how lucky we are, but also take time to reflect on the challenges that are before us. Thank you and God bless you.
