Citizens in Charge

Four years after winning independence from Britain, 55 delegates from the new American states completed the awesome task of drafting a new constitution. On September 18, 1787, one Mrs. Powel asked delegate Benjamin Franklin, “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”Â Â  Dr. Franklin’s reply was both a warning and a commission to us, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

So, we’re supposed to have a “republic,” but what, exactly, does that mean?  We  better find out if we are to live up to Franklin’s charge to “keep it.”