In 1776 America declared its independence from England. Then, it immediately turned its efforts to a monumental task: Putting into practice principles and theories of justice and freedom that had long been held by historians and philosophers. The founders of the Constitution took the principle that government is limited by the laws of Nature and Nature’s God – and established in into written constitutions; the separation of powers between the States and the Union and among the branches of the Union Government.
They took the ancient doctrine of the supremacy of the Law – and made it the basis of judicial review. They adopted the ideas that sovereignty could be divided and governmental authority distributed – and made it the foundation of federalism. The accepted the theory of equality of men – and the promoted the practices creating a free society. And finally they did what had not been done before – the actually “brought forth a new nation”.