In 1787, the Constitution was being framed in strict secrecy. Nearing the end, some citizens gathered outside Constitutional Hall, anxious to find out what had been produced behind closed doors. Immediately upon the framers’ emergence from the hall, as the story goes, a Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Straight away, Franklin said, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
When I first heard this story,
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