It’s Time to Decide
Thomas Jefferson: “the States should be watchful to note every material usurpation on their rights; denounce them as they occur in the most peremptory terms; to protest against them as wrongs to which our present submission shall be considered, not as acknowledgments or precedents of right, but as a temporary.â€
The Founders’ Antipathy to Militarism
While the Framers understood the need for a federal government, what concerned them was the possibility that such a government would become a worse menace than no government at all. Their recent experience with the British government – which of course had been their government and against which they had taken up arms – had reinforced what they had learned through their study of history: that the biggest threat to the freedom and well-being of a people was their own government.
This Constitution Day, Try Something New: Ignore the Feds!
Calling on the feds – whether it’s though elections, or protests, or lawsuits, or rallies – is a failed strategy. So how about trying something new?
The States Rights Tradition No One Knows
If the federal government has the exclusive right to judge the extent of its own powers it will continue to grow – regardless of elections.
A Great Moment in our History
In his speech at the Ohio Sovereignty Rally, Andrew Napolitano says, “In the long history of the world, very few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its maximum hour of danger. This is that moment and you are that generation! Now is the time to defend our freedoms.”
The American Revolution Revisted
The Sovereigns of each State have never ceded to the Federal government any power not granted to it by the US Constitution
Thomas J. DiLorenzo: Nullification
Thomas J. DiLorenzo, published author and senior fellow at the Mises Institute, discusses the principle of nullification as a devolution of power away from the central government into the hands of the state or the people, Thomas Jefferson and the Kentucky Resolves as resistance to the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798, ways nullification was put into practice all across the Union in the early days of the Republic and more…
The Origin of Power is the People
Wrote Elbridge Gerry: “the origin of all power is in the people, and that they have an incontestible right to check the creatures of their own creation”
To Tax or Not to Tax, That is the Question
In 1819 U.S. Supreme Court decision “McCullough v. Maryland,” Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, “An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation.”
Why a Bill of Rights?
The Ninth and Tenth Amendments mean absolutely nothing today as Americans have developed a level of naive trust for Congress, the White House and the U.S. Supreme Court that would have astonished the founders, a trust that will lead to our undoing as a great nation.
Restore Constitutional Government!
It is time to turn back the juggernaut of meddling, irresponsible, and bankrupting unconstitutional government and restore the vision of the framers of our Constitution.
It’s Time Washington D.C. Heeded the Constitution
If Thomas Jefferson could come back and visit the United States for a day, would he recognize the government his wisdom helped create?
Liberties of the People and Powers of Government
Where do the people’s rights come from? Jefferson said that they come from man’s Creator. In other words, my life was not created by government.
Thomas Paine: Bicentennial of a Patriot
Paine was more than just a pamphleteer for the cause of freedom. He was a serious political philosopher, as the following excerpt from The Rights of Man demonstrates.
The Founders Knew Latin
Their vision was for the United States to be a union of sovereign states as opposed to a consolidation of the states into “one nation, indivisible” – and this reality is embedded in the very word “federal.”
Constitutionalism 101
If one wants a nearly thorough education about the U.S. Constitution, it would be wise to examine the following: the notes from the Constitutional Convention, the public editorials written both for and against the proposed Constitution that followed, the state ratification debates, and the actual document itself.
The Legal Foundation of our Republic
We all are aware of the importance of the U.S. Constitution as the legal foundation of our republic, I do not have to tell you the dire implications of one level of government ignoring some, or all, of this document. Our Constitution has served us well for over two hundred and twenty years, in part, because of the great respect and adherence to it by both the federal government and the respective states. It is true that since it’s ratification in 1789, the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted by some of the most brilliant minds in our nation’s history.
The Jeffersonians Were Right After All
Kevin Gutzman’s “Virginia’s American Revolution” is a treasure trove for those who would recapture the original American republic.
Why the 10th Amendment?
The recent rejuvenation of interest in State’s rights, nullification, and secession has been a welcome result of the explosion of federal power since the housing and credit bubbles burst last fall. The 10th Amendment movements and “tea parties” are, at least on one level, a pure form of “republicanism.” Unfortunately, there are those who call themselves Republicans who have little understanding about the history of the republic, namely how the Founding generation conceptualized the “united States” as Jefferson called it in the Declaration of Independence.
Nullification Revisited
“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” – James Madison
Nullification Reconsidered
South Carolina’s bold nullification of the tariff in 1832, against nearly the entire American establishment, is always stated by the historians to be a failure. But it accomplished its purpose…
Happy Birthday, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States of America, was an architect, a philosopher, a Deist and an impeccable prose stylist. His passionate appeal to dissolve ties with England—the Declaration of Independence—led the early colonies to war and ultimately freedom. As president, he earned respect for his sound principles and industrious nature, though his private life has been subjected to intense scrutiny.
The Enumerated Powers of States
Our Constitution created a federal government with only enumerated powers. All powers not listed were reserved to the states and people.
The Statist and the Straw Man: Answering Attacks on Tenthers
The sovereignty movement is feared and ridiculed for its independence by weak minded men who consider themselves intelligent, but are really nothing more than altar boys for the State.
Feb 20, 2011 | Categories:Constitution, Featured, State Sovereignty Movement | Tags: 10th Amendment, bill-of-rights, Constitution, Enumerated Powers, federal-government, Federalism, Founding Fathers, Guest Commentary, State Sovereignty Movement, thomas jefferson | 20 Comments »