Introduction Essay: Principles and Virtues

Written by: Kirk Higgins, Bill of Rights Institute

Guiding Questions: 

What are Founding Principles? How do they ensure America remains a democracy? How do they help protect our liberty and natural rights? What are Civic Virtues? How does their practice help us maintain our liberty? 

What is the American Experiment? 

The United States has been called an “experiment.” Other countries, especially in Europe, looked with interest upon the United States when it was founded in 1776. They wanted to see if a republican government, meaning government administered directly by its citizens and representatives, could, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, “long endure.”  Americans, for their part, saw their new nation as a “city upon a Hill” setting an example for nations around the world.  

The Declaration of Independence asserted that all were created equal and have equal, inalienable rights, thus laying down the philosophical foundation for the American republic. The Declaration further stated that governments were instituted with the purpose of securing these rights. In 1787, the Framers at the Constitutional Convention attempted to design a government that would achieve this purpose. 

Their intentions and design shaped civic life in the United States. It informs how we think about civic life, the role of government, and the rights and responsibilities we have as citizens. Understanding it helps us better understand its history and political debates that continue to this day.  

What are Founding Principles?

The Constitution was drafted on principles of just government called for in the Declaration of Independence. The new Constitution would seek to promote and preserve these principles, like liberty and equality.  

The Framers of the Constitution understood that for a government to preserve liberty and equality and to be just required constitutional provisions like separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism. Drawn from an examination of human nature, these principles would work together to support a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, that would be stable, filtering reason from passion, and secure the general welfare of the nation. Together, we call them Founding principles because they serve as the foundation for our government.  

This foundation helps protect our natural rights. Federalism, checks and balances, separation of powers, popular sovereignty, all these principles work together to ensure just republican government by consent works to preserve our liberty and support the general welfare.  

However, the Framers knew these principles alone were not enough to secure their rights. As James Madison once stated, the Constitution was a mere “parchment barrier” that could be violated if a majority voted to do so. For the nation to truly be secure in its rights would require a virtuous people, dedicated to the goal of preserving a just government and a just civil society.  

What are Civic Virtues?

For a democracy to succeed, its people must be vigilant and jealously guard their individual liberty and rights. They must also be willing to set aside their own interests, at times, to defend the rights of others. Civic virtues promote self-government and help ensure government is oriented towards its right ends. Practicing the civic virtues of integrity, courage, respect and other virtues binds a community together through shared values and a common purpose. Understanding and practicing these virtues helps each of us do our part to support self-government.  

The materials in this section will help you better understand the definitions of these principles and how they work to promote this end. The next section will explore their origins. 

What supports the American experiment in self-government?

Studying these Founding principles and civic virtues helps ensure we have a healthy civil society that works to protect the natural rights of all. This is the framework upon which the freedom and opportunity available in the United States rests. Studying civics maintains this framework. To begin our exploration of civics, we will examine the philosophical foundations of our Founding principles and virtues and how, together, they operate within the American constitutional system.