On September 17, 1787, the United States Constitution was adopted by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and later ratified by conventions in each state. North Carolina ratified the Constitution on November 21, 1789 by a vote of 194 to 77.
John Locke was a primary author of the Fundamental Constitutions of the Carolinas in 1669. The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina were adopted by the eight Lords Proprietor of Carolina, which included most of the land in between what is now Virginia and Florida. Locke?s writings and thoughts concerning liberty, separation of powers, and property rights influenced the founding fathers as they crafted the Constitution of the United States. Locke’s central political principle, that property rights are the basis of human freedom and government exists to protect them, were written into the US Constitution.
Hood has written on the Constitution in his daily CJ columns. Here he argues that North Carolina needs a new constitution, certainly something to consider as we look to new state leadership in 2009. And here he explains what a constitutional republic should (and shouldn’t) do: “A constitutional republic, then, is a form of government by which state power is constitutionally vested in a range of institutions, including but not limited to representative legislatures or executives, and limited to the public?s business. What is that business? Here we use the term ?legitimate public goods? to distinguish what government should do from the many tasks it should leave to other social institutions.”
After 221 years, it still works, it?s still worth protecting and it’s what drives our work at the Locke Foundation.