Excellent point.
We had colonies and local governments that had persisted for four to six generations without the active day to day participation of a central government. We rebelled when that changed in the 1740 to 1770 era as Parliament went to take money in a more organized manner from the colonies. While we cited abstract terms in justifying that rebellion, we did not re-make our society and governmental institutions in that rebellion — we didn't have a Francophile rationalistic revolution remaking all of society.
We had a diverse and participatory group of Republics with citizens steeped in almost two hundred years of electing their own local authorites and functionaries. The simply wanted to continue that and keep common law and local custom and convention.
As we formed a national government, we added aspects to a written Constitution to protect those freedoms we had enjoyed that precipitated the separation. It was a practical document not a philosophic tract. The distinction of what was being protected was well understood at the time and little understood today.