"A REPUBLIC, IF YOU CAN KEEP IT"
By: Joseph Siffred Duplessis, 1767 Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers of the United States. He attended the Constitutional Convention and signed the document that set out strict parameters for the nascent, national government. After exiting the convention, a woman (possibly Elizabeth Willing Powell) approached him and excitedly asked what kind of government they had established. He famously responded, "A republic, if you can keep it." A republic is the form of government in which supreme political power is vested in the people, to be exercised on their behalf , by elected representatives. His remark was a warning that the new republic's future was uncerta...