we must stop cowering in fear at the mere mention of federal power, as if the United States government were some omnipotent god to whom we must bow down and serve.
Tag Archives | Principles of 98
Thomas Jefferson’s Other Declaration
Most Americans know that Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of “The Declaration of Independence”, the most important of all our founding documents. Yet few of them have even heard of another document that I would say might be the second most important declaration he ever wrote
Federalism: The Early Years
In 1798, Thomas Jefferson gave us a timeless message which was a reminder that “we the people†are ultimately in charge, not the federal government. The federal government derives its power from the people.
Nullification: It’s Official.
Nullification is not the petitioning of the federal government to start doing or to stop doing anything. Nullification doesn’t depend on any federal law being repealed. Nullification does not require permission from any person or institution outside of one’s own state.
What States Rights Really Mean
Is there a Constitutional remedy to federal overreach short of the extreme measures of secession or violent revolution?
The States’ Rights Tradition Nobody Knows
In 1798, the legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky approved resolutions that affirmed the states’ right to resist federal encroachments on their powers. If the federal government has the exclusive right to judge the extent of its own powers, warned the resolutions’ authors (James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, respectively), it will continue to grow – regardless [...]
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