Editor’s note: Cade Harms’ essay placed first in eighth grade in the local level of the Patriot’s Pen essay contest, sponsored by VFW Post 6958 and the post’s Ladies Auxiliary. It also placed first at the district level and second in the state. Harms won a $200 scholarship for his essay.

I believe that we have created a strong nation since the American Revolution and the ratification of the Constitution, and I would be sure to tell our Founding Fathers so. We have also made mistakes and we have drifted slightly away from what our fathers would have done had they been alive at the time. I would tell them this and so much more if I had the privilege. Let me explain.

Today in our government we have two political parties, democrats and republicans. In George Washington’s resignation speech, he had warned us of the evil of political parties and how they would tear this nation apart, and in some ways, they have. I would personally tell Washington how right he was and that it takes a long time to make any decisions because of this. I would also tell him how swell a job he did at giving us the guide lines for what the President of the United States is supposed to accomplish during his two terms and what powers he does not have. Even though there have been presidents that have abused this power he has helped keep this nation free of a monarchy for over two-hundred years.

Now our Constitution is a marvelous document. It sets how this nation is supposed to be run with a firm grasp, but it also is a living document and can be changed to accord with things that our Founding Fathers could not have dreamed of, such as regulating nuclear reactors or building a space program that would send Americans to the moon. Benjamin Franklin had helped create this document over two-hundred years ago and it still leads this country on to bigger and better things. So thank you to all of our Founding Fathers who helped create the best Constitution that is humanly possible.

I would tell them that only God knows how many mistakes were made along the way to creating the United States, and there are plenty of things to fix, but they have created a light to all nations who wish to govern themselves, wish for peace, wish for prosperity, and who wish to be free men. As the Declaration of Independence states, all men have unalienable rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, none of which may ever be taken away. So thank you fathers, for the United States.

Cade J. Harms,
8th grade