Will History Record The Truth About Our Downfall?

Neal Ross

7/25/2010

In my last article I asked are you ready for the truth. The truth is something we are in short supply of these days. We don’t get it from our elected officials, we don’t get it from the news media, and most importantly, we don’t get it from our school system when it comes to our nation’s history.

As a result we, the people of these United States, have allowed our government to assume powers that it was never intended they have. You see, to understand how drastically our government has changed, we must first understand how it began, and what it was intended to do. That is why history is such an important subject for our children to learn. However, the history they are being taught is unfortunately more fiction than truth.

From the very beginning, there were those among the founders who felt that the system of government created by our Constitution was too weak to govern a nation, that more powers should have been granted the government for it to function efficiently.

Thankfully, the majority prevailed and our Constitution limited the powers granted to government to those specifically found in Article 1, Section 8. Still, from the time of our second President, John Adams, our government has attempted to enlarge its sphere of power.

With the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, our government took its first baby steps towards enlarging its powers and diminishing those of the states, and the individual. Thankfully there were still those who still understood the intent of our Constitution, chiefly Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, who drafted the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions denouncing the Alien and Sedition Acts.

From the Kentucky Resolutions we read, “That if those who administer the general government be permitted to transgress the limits fixed by that compact, by a total disregard to the special delegations of power therein contained, annihilation of the state governments, and the erection upon their ruins, of a general consolidated government, will be the inevitable consequence.”

Our founders knew enough about human nature and systems of government, that that could foresee the danger of a government of unlimited power. It was for this reason that they constantly wrote about the need for the people to pay close attention to the actions of their government, and that is why James Madison said, “We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties.”

In the year 1825, Thomas Jefferson drafted a document entitled, Draft Declaration and Protest of Virginia on the Principles of the Constitution of the United States of America, and on the Violations of them. Already, Jefferson saw the steps being taken by our government to assume unlimited power. From his draft I quote the following, “This assembly does further disavow and declare to be most false and unfounded, the doctrine that the compact, in authorizing its federal branch to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States, has given them thereby a power to do whatever they may think, or pretend, would promote the general welfare, which construction would make that, of itself, a complete government, without limitation of powers…”

However, in 1861 the southern states had had enough of the federal government, and declared that they were seceding from the Union. Much has been written about what we now call the Civil War, but most of what we are taught is an outright lie.

You see, even Abraham Lincoln had stated, “Any people, anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right, a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people, that can, may revolutionize, and make their own of so much of the territory as they inhabit.”

You see, it was a universally accepted belief that a single, or group of states, had the right to dissolve their allegiance to the Union. Thomas Jefferson, in his first inaugural address, stated, “If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.”

Lincoln, although he proclaimed the same beliefs in his speeches, took our nation to war to prevent the states from exercising what was considered their right, to severe their ties to the Union. It was never about slavery, as Lincoln himself said in a letter to Horace Greeley, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”

Lincolns war of aggression against the south was a major blow to states rights, and the first serious step our government took towards consolidating its powers. Fast forward about a century and a half and we are witnessing another battle between the federal government and a states rights. As most by now probably know, Arizona has passed a law which basically mirrors existing federal law in regards to immigration.

Since passing SB 1070, the state of Arizona has come under attack from all sides. Neighboring states have declared that they intend to boycott Arizona, and the federal government is filing suit against them.

Let me ask you something. Say you live in a neighborhood that is experiencing a rash of home invasion robberies. You, and your neighbors have contacted the police in regards to these robberies, yet the police refuse to respond to your calls, allowing the robbers to do as they please. Would you not take matters into your own hands because the police are not doing their jobs of serving and protecting the public?

Well, that is exactly what Arizona is doing, albeit on a much larger scale. They are taking matters into their own hands because the federal government refuses to enforce its own laws.

So who is wrong in this scenario, Arizona, or the federal government? If you called 911 to report a robbery in progress at your home, and the police refused to respond, do you not think that you would have the right to defend yourself, and your property? That is all Arizona is doing, and they are being sued by the government for their efforts.

History has already given us an example of what happens when states feel the federal government no longer represents their wishes. Is it about to give us another? James Madison made it clear when he said, “Nor do I think that Congress, even seconded by the judicial power, can, without some change in the character of the nation, succeed in durable violations of the rights and authorities of the states.”

And that is exactly what has been happening since Lincolns war of aggression against the south, a change in character of the nation. With each successive administration government has assumed powers it was never intended they possess.

We witnessed Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, George W. Bush and his numerous laws passed to support his War on Terror. Now we have a questionably unconstitutional president, enacting takeover after takeover of businesses.

Due to liberal rulings by the Supreme Court, the General Welfare and Commerce Clauses of the Constitution have been expanded, thereby disregarding the specifically enumerated powers granted Congress by the Constitution.

Jefferson and Madison would be shocked to see how much power our government has assumed, especially since Madison himself proclaimed, “If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish and pay them out of their public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union; they may assume the provision of the poor; they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads; in short, every thing, from the highest object of state legislation down to the most minute object of police, would be thrown under the power of Congress… Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited Government established by the people of America.”

Our founders fought a revolution to free themselves from far less tyranny than we live under today. We tolerate the burdens placed upon us by our government because we have not been taught to cherish or liberty and our rights. For the most part, the words of our founders fall upon deaf ears. People would prefer to spend their time glued to their televisions, instead of picking up a book and reading about such inconsequential things as rights and freedom.

Thomas Jefferson must be weeping tears of sadness from the heavens above. Yet I would venture to guess that Lincoln is clapping his hands in glee.

I cannot say whether or not this nation can be saved, and honestly, I don’t know if the majority of the people in this country could handle life without all the government programs aimed at making their lives more comfortable.

It is a sad state of affairs indeed. I just wonder how history will record the downfall of America. Will it be the truth, or will it be filled with lies, just as is the history we are currently being taught about our nation’s birth? Only time will tell…

“[T]o preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms,
and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.” — Federal Farmer

Comments may be sent to: bonsai@syix.com