Gettysburg Address
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln spoke at the dedication of a cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the site of the bloodiest battle in the American Civil War.
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead,
who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
In 1863, many Americans were so bitterly divided on the ideological issues of the day, they took up arms against each other in what became a brutal domestic conflict which lasted over four years and left at least 620,000 Americans dead on its own soil.
Today, many Americans are once again bitterly divided along ideological lines in terms of what system of governance best represents their values and beliefs and is in the best interest of themselves, their family, their communities and their country, i.e. progressive or conservative. The solution to this polarization is certainly not another civil war but rather to find something which people from both ends of the political spectrum or anywhere in between can actually agree upon.
After much searching, I found the single, most basic thing that Americans should be able to agree upon is the U.S Constitution.
Why? Because the Constitution is the one thing that the majority of Americans have already taken a solemn oath to protect and defend.
Case in point: In 2022 there were 161,420,000 registered voters in the U.S. or 62% of the population age 18 or over. As part of the process to become a registered voter includes taking an oath pledging to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, a majority of Americans 18 years of age and older had already made such a pledge.
While “voters” are a large class of the people who take such an oath, they are far from the only ones who must promise to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution.
Who Else Has Promised to Protect and Defend the U.S. Constitution?
While this is by no means a complete list, it will give you an idea of just how many Americans have already agreed to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution:
The President of the United States:
“I, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God“
The Vice-President of the United States:
“I, Kamala Devi Harris, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
All Members of Congress take the same oath as the Vice-President:
All Federal Employees
According to the U.S. Dept of Labor Statistics, as of December 2024, the total number of people employed by the U.S. government was 3,010,000. Each took the the same oath as all Congressmen:
“I, _________________, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
Members of the Military:
I, _________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Immigrants seeking to become a U.S. Citizen:
“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”
Why Should Every American Preserve, Protect and Defend the U.S Constitution?
Issued in 1776, the Declaration of Independence firmly established the fundamental belief of the 
Founding Fathers that all men are created equal and have God-given rights that cannot be taken away by anyone, including the right to Life, to Liberty and to the pursuit of Happiness. They also emphasized that in order to ensure that these rights were protected and never lost, it was necessary to establish a new form of government whose power came from the citizens themselves and which would be charged with safeguarding every citizen’s unalienable rights.
On June 21, 1788, after more than a decade of debate, the purpose, structure and rules of how this new form of government would operate was finally ratified and established as the Constitution for the United States of America.
To affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens, 
the Constitution opens with the now famous words “We the People …” after which it lays out the six specific purposes the Constitution is designed to achieve, namely:
- To establish a more perfect Union
- To establish justice
- To insure domestic tranquility
- To provide for the common defense
- To promote the general welfare
- To secure the blessings of Liberty for themselves and future generations
To add even greater strength and importance to the Constitution on December 15, 1791 the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were 
adopted thereby guaranteeing specific individual rights to all citizens such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, the right to peaceable assembly, the right to a speedy trial and protection from cruel and unusual punishment, to name but a few. The Bill of Rights plays a key role in our government achieving its six original purposes for all Americans.
So back to the original question: Why should every American preserve, protect and defend the U.S. Constitution? Here is my viewpoint on why I believe that every American should do so:
- For the majority of Americans who have already taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, they have an ethical responsibility to keep their word and do so.
- The six purposes listed in the Preamble of the Constitution are very worthwhile purposes and achieving them would create the type of country that I believe the majority of Americans would like to have.
- The best way to achieve them these to ensure that the Constitution is applied exactly as currently written since it was specifically designed to achieve all six. True, we have come a long way in many areas but we still have a ways to go to achieve each fully.
- Everyone desires freedom and everyone has the unalienable right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. By declaring these as God-given rights and devising a government designed to protect those rights, America established itself as a leading advocate for freedom and the rights of Man around the world.
- The U.S Constitution has survived the test of time as the world’s longest surviving written charter of government and has been used as a model by many countries throughout the world. It is the natural order of things, that those things which survive inevitably have more right with them than wrong; more good than bad and produces more pleasure than pain and so it is with our Constitution. It deserves the support of the citizens it protects.
As President Abraham Lincoln so eloquently stated in his Gettysburg Address:
“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth