Editor, Gazette-Journal:

On Aug. 22, 2017, the Board of Supervisors of Mathews County adopted a resolution proclaiming the week of Sept. 17-23 Constitution Week, commemorating the signing of the Constitution of the United States 230 years ago.   

The U.S. Constitution is the oldest constitution still in active use in the world today and is the basic document of our republic, which protects the individual liberties of all citizens through written law. Americans then, as now, hold widely differing opinions on all issues addressed by the Constitution. It was and still is the job of the Constitution and the government formed under it to draw these different views together, to shape a common ground, and to protect the rights of each individual citizen.

As well as being the oldest constitution in use today, it is also the shortest, containing only 4,543 words, including signatures. It was written in less than 100 working days and takes less than half an hour to read. Stop by the...