In May, 1787, 55 delegates from the 13 states gathered in Philadelphia to represent them at the Constitutional Convention, held in Philadelphia. They were chosen to write a document to replace the most inadequate current governing text, the Articles of Confederation. The main reason the Articles were inadequate as a governing document was because it gave the 13 states too much power and sovereignty for the federal government to exert any effective authority over them. Since the Founding Fathers had relatively recently won a bloody battle with England to safeguard America’s freedoms, in a spirit of cooperation and singleness of purpose, they set out to write a document that would capture the purpose of their gathering, which was to protect our freedoms and the right to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness, as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

Out of our Founding Fathers deliberations, the Constitution and Bill of Rights was born.

I was struck by the Founding Fathers decision to include as one of our freedoms, the “Pursuit of Happiness.” I feel that it was a real stroke of genius to include that phrase as part of our freedoms, for that is something that all of us strive to seek daily, and is the main catalyst for pursuing life as we know it.

Mahatma Gandhi described happiness in this way: “Happiness  is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

We may have those ‘happiness’ moments many times during any given day. However, we might not know exactly when we’ve had those moments because they may have seemed so fleeting that we didn’t know they were there, or we didn’t take the time to reflect upon what we were experiencing to understand how very magical or satisfying they were. That’s because in order to recognize such moments, you have to be aware of what you’re experiencing at the time, and interpret such an experience as being meaningful to you. That’s why reflection or introspection needs to happen if that ‘happy experience’ is going to be consciously meaningful to you.

Our Founding Fathers must have  indeed experienced those moments as magical, and uniquely purposeful and important when they gathered together as one, and debated and conferred with one another, in their effort to establish a ‘harmonious compromise’, for they spoke about the issues of the day with such passion and conviction. Judging by the fervor, ardor and zeal at the time, and because some had their portraits painted, they knew they were doing something important and special, which was to secure a firm foundation for which our government could sustain itself, all done so that future generations could thrive and prosper for years to come. I’m sure when our Founding Fathers reached  consensual agreement,  when they came to a  compromise in what to say in those documents, there were some moments of quiet happiness and internal joy in what was agreed upon and ultimately incorporated. That was so because of Gandhi’s definition of what constitutes happiness, which is a harmony of thought, utterances, and achievement by those who participated in the final discussions, all of which were necessary for a conclusion to be reached. This could only have occurred if our Founding Fathers knew what their general objectives were and their tacit understanding that they wished to write a document that generationally, would not only stand the test of time, but would protect our freedoms and rights for Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

The Founding Fathers wouldn’t have been able to win the Revolutionary War and, as a result, write those documents, if they hadn’t loved one another, their country, and hadn’t cared about the well being of  future generations.

The Founding Fathers’ actions were a clear example of where the whole was greater than the sum of its parts, devoid of party loyalty, or any other allegiance to something other than for the common good of the American citizenry. For without all of them working in perfect harmony and cooperation, where what they thought, said, and achieved, was done for the common good, it’s very possible our Constitution would not have stood the test of time.

Considering the political climate that exists here, in the 21^st century, it would be impossible to envision occurring in today’s halls of Congress an all encompassing and wide spread  based Gandhi type  happiness of the type that occurred at the Founding Father’s Constitutional Convention, in the 18^th century. As long as our politicians appear to have shown their allegiance to their political party to which they are a member rather than to the American citizenry they have sworn to serve and protect, we will never achieve a ‘harmonious’ compromise that would reflect Gandhi’s belief in what constitutes happiness.