The moral foundation of the Constitution is the principles contained in the Declaration of Independence. As such, the government ought to exist to protect citizens from encroachments on individual freedom.
The intent of the Framers' Constitutional government both utilized and restrained human ambition as a means to limit government and protect individual freedom.
The Framers recognized that ambitious individuals should serve in government yet their ambition must be checked. Unrestrained ambition could lead to the type of tyrannical forces from which the revolutionaries won independence.
A government that deviates from the principles of the Declaration of Independence and reaches beyond the boundaries of the Constitutional erodes liberty. Today this occurs most often via the tyranny of the bureaucracy and legislation. During America's founding it was the despotism of King George III. In ancient Greece, it was the tyranny of the majority.
Tyranny is antithetical to freedom no matter what its form.
For it is only when we rebuke the principles of the Declaration of Independence and manipulate Constitutional interpretation that egregious abuses against human liberty occur. In our nation's history, slavery is the prime example of humans corrupting the principles of the Declaration of Independence and trampling Constitutional government.
Yet, the principles of the Declaration of Independence and Constitutional limited government eventually ended slavery. A people whose government's foundation is freedom cannot tolerate nefarious abuses against individual liberty in the long run.
Humans have an inherent right to freedom. Liberty is the natural condition of the human spirit. The proof of which is the extent to which one will go to free oneself from constraints—to rip the shackles from one's body when bound or to risk one's life navigating an underground railroad to freedom.
That slavery existed does not prove the fallibility of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Slavery was emblematic of the complex, often contradictory, nature of humankind.
Government is made of humans and their nature. The structure of the government devised in the Constitution restricts human nature so that no one branch of government, or one person could, be tyrannical.
The Constitution established a rule of law government confined to the consent of the people. It's a rule of law that treats every citizen equally to preserve individual freedom. It was an unprecedented rule of law that placed individual liberty above the state. The stability of Constitutional rule of law guarantees individuals the rights to their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Reestablishing the original intent of the Constitution is of utmost importance today. Starting with the Progressive era a hundred years ago, American leaders developed the idea of a living constitution. The notion of a living constitution erodes the stability of the rule of law as bureaucrats and legislators control citizens according to their whim.
The living constitution was the genesis of our descent into the abyss of bureaucratic and legislative tyranny. Groups of Americans increasingly positioned themselves against other groups to obtain taxpayer resources. This collective mentality empowers government and destroys individual freedom.
Prior to the progressive era, America made great strides toward realizing the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and Constitutional government—examples include the end of slavery and women's suffrage.
The further we stray from the maxims of the Declaration of Independence and Constitutional government, the more divisive and fractured America will become.
The morality of the Constitution is that it established a government which protects individual liberty thus freeing minds to achieve their potential. With individual liberty as our common cause, the potential of our free, innovative minds is limitless. However, we can only realize our potential under a Constitutional limited government.
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