Sunday is an important day — aside from being just 44 days away from Halloween, it also marks the Constitution’s 230th birthday.
We can thank the Constitution for a number of things, including not having to change currency when you cross state lines and the existence of a federal government, but a supreme federal document wasn’t always such a guaranteed idea in the United States.
The Constitution replaced the Articles of the Confederation, a document that delegated a large amount of power and influence to the states and left the federal government practically powerless to intervene or protect the rights of Americans.
Creating a more powerful federal government wasn’t a well liked idea by the founding fathers — they had just fought to end a monarchy.
After the document was signed, someone asked Benjamin Franklin, at the time 81, if the new government would be a republic or a monarchy.
“A republic, if you can keep it,” Franklin said.
Exactly 230 years later, that republic appears to be going strong.
