Essay 19-C: The Application Of Electricity In Public Life And Founding Documents

Essay Read by Constituting America Founder, Actress Janine Turner

The discovery and application of electricity was one of the many advances in America buttressed by the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution for success. 

To appreciate the advancement of industry in the United States that involves development of electricity, it is important to appreciate the minds of America’s Founders as they applied lessons from history to their current situation. 

A list of grievances specified by the Founders against the British King addressed, among other things, George III destroyed industry, invention, advancement, and civilization of the American states. From overtaxation to blocked trade to bureaucratic red tape that placed a stranglehold on the new country, 27 grievances supported the Founders’ resolve in 1776 for just government. Examples of these grievances from the Declaration of Independence demonstrate their reasoning for completely dissolving political bands from the Crown: 

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

Due to these acts of war, the American colonies broke off from tyranny by breaking away from any crown. Doing so provided them self-governing republicanism. Upon the Declaration’s closing words, America’s Founders reinforced the purpose, source, and sustainment of their independence, therefore safeguarding industry and development. It offered af government by the consent of the governed. Note these words were adopted July 4, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War which occurred from 1775 to 1783: 

…contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. 

In 1787, America’s self-governing document, the Constitution, reinforced the principles of the Declaration of Independence of 1776. Under the clause pertaining to Copyright and Patent law, Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution reads:

To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

Without consent of the governed, freedom to develop ideas into realized inventions ends at the point of thought. Harnessing electricity, for example, and using it to prosper the country was made possible because of the type of government America chose to form. Without government protection of liberty to invent and the patents protecting the intellectual property of patents, the United States would have no computers, smart phones, refrigerators, all kinds of products used every day—including factories for making such inventions—that function by means of electricity.

Inventions using electricity improved American living conditions as they developed over time. These ideas keep businesses open and factories running, resulting in widespread prosperity. 

Some of the early American contributors to the development of electricity were Benjamin Franklin in the 1700s, and Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla in the 1800s.

Once the Constitution was ratified, no time was wasted exercising its substance. 

Just a little over a year after George Washington was sworn in on April 30, 1789, as the first President of the United States, on July 31, 1790, he signed the first U.S. Patent. Since the 1940s, the number of patents held at the U.S. Department of Energy exceeds 34,000.

Thomas Edison invented the light bulb and had it patented in 1880. This example defending freedom to invent led to the first power plant, the Pearl Street Station located in lower Manhattan, New York, which opened in 1882.

Such ingenuity to experiment, build and compete did not come easy. The American Founders knew they risked their lives to form a new, sovereign, independent nation. America’s founding documents were crafted to lay the foundation for genius to be discovered through experiment that brought about the Industrial Revolution. This made maintaining a developed civilization attainable. Inventors and innovative entrepreneurs could thus take risks and push the boundaries of discovery.

Through a system designed on consent of the governed, or self-rule, the ideas of American republican, constitutional government set the stage for discovery, invention, and innovation. It opened doors for historic freedom to prosper. Life-saving advances in medicine, space exploration, a secure homeland, and so much more are made possible because of these principles. 

Amanda Hughes is author of Who Wants to Be Free? on faith, freedom and the importance of voting, and a writer for HillFaith.org. She is a story contributor for the anthologies Loving Moments and Moments with Billy Graham. She was honored to serve as editor for her father’s book of life stories, Adventures, Wit & Wisdom: The Life & Times of Charlie Hughes. Amanda formerly served as 90-Day Study Director for Constituting America. She received her B.A. from Texas State University and M.A. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

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