-By Frank Salvato
When Benjamin Franklin emerged from Independence Hall in Philadelphia at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he was approached by a Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia. It was then and there that she asked the now famous question, “Well, Doctor, what have we, a republic or a monarchy?” It is said that Dr. Franklin, without hesitation, said, “A Republic, ma’am, if you can keep it.”
By definition, courtesy of Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law, a Republic is “a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law.” In other words, and to paraphrase without deviating from the definition’s intent, a Republic is a system of government where the ultimate power lies with the people; that power executed by way of elected representatives who are responsible to those who elected them and according to the rule of law.
The United States of America is a Republic, a Constitutional Republic. By this it is meant that we elect representatives who execute government per the rule of constitutional law, the United States Constitution being the ultimate and exclusive basis for that law.
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A Republic, If You Can Keep It”