Every day in our great nation a small but proud minority of its sons and daughters raise their right hands and swear to “support and defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” This statement is at the heart of the oath that all members of the armed forces take freely and many have given their lives honoring. But when those of us who wear the uniform swear to defend the Constitution, what is it we are really agreeing to defend?
OK, a little Civics 101 refresher: the U.S. Constitution was adopted on Sept. 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention and was declared ratified on July 2, 1788. The Constitution provides the contract between our nation and its citizens on how our government will be framed. With regard to our nation’s defense, it defines the president as our commander in chief, and assigns Congress the power to “provide for the calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.” It also assigns Congress the responsibility “to provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, as they may be employed in the service of the United States…” So, within the Constitution you can find the necessity for a military and the requirement for it to serve the U.S.
So does this mean that when we take our oath to support and defend the Constitution we are merely protecting the framework of our government? Or does it go deeper?
The oath of the armed forces originates from the oath of our commander in chief. As called for within our Constitution, before taking office the president must swear “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Like that sworn by members of the military, the oath is to defend the Constitution rather than a higher office or even fellow citizens. By our oaths, members of the armed forces are defenders of the Constitution and servants of the nation. That Constitution, with the Bill of Rights, provides us the framework of government to follow through on the democratic principles called for 12 years earlier in the Declaration of Independence (signed July 4, 1776).
In other words, the source document of the Constitution we swear to support and defend is actually the Declaration of Independence. Therefore, to comprehend our oath we must understand the Declaration of Independence.
Abraham Lincoln himself promoted the idea that the Declaration of Independence is a statement of democratic principles through which the Constitution should be interpreted. So if our oath is in-turn to support and defend these principles, what are they? One need look no further than the Declaration of Independence’s famous preamble to find the ideas and ideals that form the principles of our nation: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
While the Constitution provides the framework and relationships of our various branches of government and its citizens, it is the principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence that members of the armed forces are really swearing to support and defend. This is this important distinction that makes military service unlike any other profession in the U.S. and unique from military service in many other nations.
To fully appreciate the role of the military in preserving life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness we should look to the final line of the Declaration of Independence.
“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
It is the men and women of the armed forces, on behalf of our fellow citizens, who have valiantly stepped forward and agreed to protect their lives, fortunes and sacred honor. It is the very magnitude of our solemn oath that should compel those of us who take it, as well as the citizens whose principles we defend, to understand its true meaning.
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Every day in our great nation a small but proud minority of its sons and daughters raise their right hands and swear to “support and defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” This statement is at the heart of the oath that all members of the armed forces take freely and many have given their lives honoring. But when those of us who wear the uniform swear to defend the Constitution, what is it we are really agreeing to defend?
OK, a little Civics 101 refresher: the U.S. Constitution was adopted on Sept. 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention and was declared ratified on July 2, 1788. The Constitution provides the contract between our nation and its citizens on how our government will be framed. With regard to our nation’s defense, it defines the president as our commander in chief, and assigns Congress the power to “provide for the calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.” It also assigns Congress the responsibility “to provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, as they may be employed in the service of the United States…” So, within the Constitution you can find the necessity for a military and the requirement for it to serve the U.S.
So does this mean that when we take our oath to support and defend the Constitution we are merely protecting the framework of our government? Or does it go deeper?
The oath of the armed forces originates from the oath of our commander in chief. As called for within our Constitution, before taking office the president must swear “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Like that sworn by members of the military, the oath is to defend the Constitution rather than a higher office or even fellow citizens. By our oaths, members of the armed forces are defenders of the Constitution and servants of the nation. That Constitution, with the Bill of Rights, provides us the framework of government to follow through on the democratic principles called for 12 years earlier in the Declaration of Independence (signed July 4, 1776).
In other words, the source document of the Constitution we swear to support and defend is actually the Declaration of Independence. Therefore, to comprehend our oath we must understand the Declaration of Independence.
Abraham Lincoln himself promoted the idea that the Declaration of Independence is a statement of democratic principles through which the Constitution should be interpreted. So if our oath is in-turn to support and defend these principles, what are they? One need look no further than the Declaration of Independence’s famous preamble to find the ideas and ideals that form the principles of our nation: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
While the Constitution provides the framework and relationships of our various branches of government and its citizens, it is the principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence that members of the armed forces are really swearing to support and defend. This is this important distinction that makes military service unlike any other profession in the U.S. and unique from military service in many other nations.
To fully appreciate the role of the military in preserving life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness we should look to the final line of the Declaration of Independence.
“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
It is the men and women of the armed forces, on behalf of our fellow citizens, who have valiantly stepped forward and agreed to protect their lives, fortunes and sacred honor. It is the very magnitude of our solemn oath that should compel those of us who take it, as well as the citizens whose principles we defend, to understand its true meaning.