History
Shots Fired, Ship Burned: The Sons of Liberty vs the HMS Gaspee
“For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offences.” From the Declaration of Independence, one of the charges against the King that justified secession. It was built on a violent American raid on a British ship years earlier that few of us are ever...
The Runup to the Declaration of Independence
In the years before 1763, the British Empire—although in theory a unified entity—was really a federation. The central government in London controlled foreign affairs and the imperial post office. It also regulated trade with foreign countries and among units of the...
It’s Not Just a Right. It’s a Duty.
Alter or abolish. Despite those words in the Declaration of Independence, the establishment would have you believe that any effort to resist their power is anti-American. But they have it backwards. Under the founders’ framework, the right to “provide new guards” is a...
Foundation of the Revolution: Compliance Destroys Freedom
“RESIST THEM” American Independence was built on the understanding that compliance with arbitrary power isn’t safety – or peace. It’s surrender. That’s an essential, but long-forgotten foundation of the American Revolution: Laws made outside the limits of the...