With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on the horizon, former Congressman Chris Gibson says the country is facing a defining test — one that echoes the perilous summer of 1787.
He calls it “the Spirit of Philadelphia.”
“So, the spirit of Philadelphia is what happened at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 when they finally compromised on the issue of how to work the legislature and representation,” Gibson said in a live interview. “Their back was up against it. And so, they came together.”
Gibson will expand on that theme Sunday at the Time and the Valleys Museum, where he’ll discuss his book, “The Spirit of Philadelphia: A Call to Recover the Founding Principles,” and what he sees as a modern crisis of trust.
A Nation on the Brink — Then and Now
The former Army officer and Republican congressman paints a stark picture of the years under the Articles of Confederation. “The country at the time, not even really a country — the Confederation was close to failing, and the leaders knew it,” Gibson said.
Delegates arrived in Philadelphia divided. Large states demanded representation by population. Small states feared being swallowed whole. For weeks, they stalled.
“They didn’t even get a quorum for 10 days,” Gibson noted. “And then for three weeks, they struggled with the same question.”
What broke the deadlock was the Connecticut Compromise — a breakthrough that blended proportional representation in the House with equal representation in the Senate.
“When they finally compromise… that changed the mood of the entire convention,” he said. “All of a sudden, what seemed insurmountable was actually insurmountable.”
That shift — from stalemate to shared purpose — is the “spirit” Gibson believes Americans must rediscover.
Trust at Historic Lows
Gibson argues today’s political dysfunction mirrors that earlier instability.
“This is the lowest level of trust, confidence and faith in institutions and leaders in all the time they’ve been doing this research,” he said, referencing decades of public opinion data. “So regardless of what folks want to see happen, they all agree that it’s not what’s going on right now.”
He draws a sharp distinction between philosophy and ideology. The founders, he argues, set aside partisan agendas to answer more fundamental questions: Who are we? And how should power be structured given human nature?
“They make the conclusion that we’re conflicted as a species,” Gibson said. “Certainly capable of love and sacrifice… but if we’re being very bluntly honest about ourselves, we have a side of us that we don’t hope to show to people.”
Because of that realism, he says, the framers designed a system that checked ambition with ambition — separating and balancing power.
“When you consolidate and centralize power, there just aren’t examples in history where that’s worked out well for us, we the people,” Gibson said.
Emergency Powers and Congressional Drift
One of Gibson’s central arguments is that Congress has gradually surrendered its constitutional responsibilities — particularly to the presidency.
“We have so much accumulated power in the presidency,” he said. “That was never the intent of the founders.”
He points specifically to emergency powers and trade authority. “How is it that president is doing all this work on tariffs when the Constitution explicitly, Article 1, Section 8 gives that power to the people’s representatives?” he asked. “And I have to tell them it’s just a tortured answer.”
Gibson argues emergency powers should automatically sunset unless reapproved by Congress. War powers, too, should return to legislative debate and recorded votes. “The people, we the people, were supposed to have a say,” he said.
Rebuilding Trust Starts with Hard Work
Gibson doesn’t sugarcoat the effort required to repair civic life. “I remember my time in the Army… the workouts were really arduous,” he said. “If you were to wake me up in the middle of the night and say, ‘Do I really enjoy CrossFit?’ I don’t think I would have said yes. But I knew it was good for me.”
Democracy, he suggests, requires similar discipline: reading deeply, thinking critically, engaging respectfully.
“We need to read and we need to think,” Gibson said. “And then we need to reach out to each other.”
He believes collaboration itself can transform hardened attitudes, citing social science research on “cognitive dissonance” — the tension between belief and lived experience.
“When we believe one thing and experience another, the human mind reduces dissonance, and it tends to move toward experience,” he said.
In other words: work together, and minds can change.
“Is the System Basically Fair?”
Gibson proposes a series of reforms — independent redistricting, campaign finance reform, term limits, tax and trade reform — all centered on one guiding question:
“Is the system basically fair?” he asked. “Right now, the overwhelming majority of Americans… think the system’s rigged.”
He adds, candidly: “I wish I could tell you after my six years serving in Congress that I didn’t believe that. But I do believe that. I think our system is rigged.”
Still, Gibson insists America’s best days are not behind it.“I absolutely believe that this Republic — we’re capable of getting back on track and having our best days yet.”
Image: Visitors view the Liberty Bell, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)