Our Founding Fathers had experience with tyrannical rule that all native-born Americans today have absolutely NO concept of. Other than people that have immigrated here from other, tyrannical, nations, I can say with certainty; Americans would not know tyranny if it was staring them in the face (and it is).
If one would listen to Holocaust survivors, they see a dark resemblance of 1930’s Germany in the United States today. Remember, Hitler was elected to office BEFORE the Reichstag burned down. That fire was orchestrated by Goehring, then blamed on a mentally challenged young man (better known as a ‘False Flag’). He then (in the interest of national security) had laws passed (similar to the ‘Patriot Act’) that effectively removed citizens’ rights and made him dictator. For those who are more studied in this than I, this is a simplified explanation. There are more ‘twists and turns,’ but the point comes across. He was elected before creating the crises (plural) that allowed him to rise to dictatorial power.
This same ‘playbook’ has taken place, in one form or another, in every tyrannical nation in recorded history.
For anyone that is confused, we do NOT live in a Democracy. Our government was formed as a Constitutional Republic. So, the political party stating that its opposing political party is a ‘clear and present danger’ to our Democracy; really needs to read the Constitution. The Constitution was NEVER intended to control and restrain the people, it was written to control and restrain the government. Ask just about anyone you know, “in what year was the Constitution ratified and signed”? Odds are, they will get it wrong. Then ask them, “after we defeated the British at Yorktown, what was the governing document before the Constitution was ratified/signed”? You will probably get a dumb look. They may be surprised to learn that the thirteen original states were bound together by the Articles of Confederation, meaning against a centralized, federal government; and that several states refused to ratify the Constitution until the first ten amendments were added (our present Bill of Rights).
It is a disgrace in our education system, that an immigrant applying for citizenship must pass a citizenship test that shows they know and understand more about American History, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution than her native-born citizens do.
Fast forward in history about 50 years; what was the cause of the Civil War? Slavery? Not exactly. Slavery was a part of it, but not the original cause. The election of Lincoln simply fanned the fuse that had been smoldering for about the previous 20 years into flame. If you read Lincoln’s 1st Inaugural Address, he never mentioned the emancipation of slaves. The fuse that had been smoldering was the federal government getting ‘too big for its britches’ and ignoring states’ rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. Not to mention this thing called ‘taxes.’ I will leave that piece of history for you to research on your own. For now, I will simply reiterate that the Constitution does not GRANT us our rights, it guarantees us our God-given rights. The states are sovereign above the federal government, and the citizens are sovereign above the state. Too many people have surrendered their sovereignty to the government(s) (local, state, and federal). With that, too many states have surrendered their sovereignty to the federal government.
Back to ‘the beginning.’ Our Founding Fathers had an obvious response to tyranny: they fought it. At first it was fought diplomatically, but with the ever-increasing taxation and ‘mandates’ of the King; the colonists began to protest openly. These open protests brought in the British Army. Fast forward to April 1775. The British General, Gage, had learned that the colonists had been stockpiling arms in Concord, and on 18 April, he dispatched one thousand British troops to destroy that stockpile. On 19 April, the British troops arrived in Concord, ‘greeted’ by seventy armed colonists. Shots were exchanged, and seven Americans were killed, with ten more wounded. This was the opening volley of the Revolutionary War. On the 21-mile march from Concord back to Boston (where the British were garrisoned), approximately four thousand farmers hiding behind rocks, trees, and stone fences harassed the British troops. These farmers (some, veterans of the French/Indian War) killed 74 British soldiers, wound 174, and another twenty-six were MIA (Missing In Action). The colonists suffered ninety-three wounded, missing, or killed. The only thing that saved the British from disaster was the arrival of reinforcements from Boston.
In the build-up to the Declaration of Independence, two separate declarations were presented to the Continental Congress. The first, the ‘Olive Branch Petition’ of 05 July 1775, offered a ‘last-gasp’ effort of conciliatory appeal to the king. The second was the ‘Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms,’ which was adopted on 06 July 1775. In effect, a formal Declaration of War between the colonies and England.
(Little known facts: the Continental Congress actually declared our independence on 02 July 1776. The document we know as the Declaration of Independence was presented to the Continental Congress on 04 July; but it was not actually signed by all members until 02 August).
“IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” (Emphases mine).
In our own Declaration of Independence, it is acknowledged that our Rights are God-given. Our rights are NOT granted us by our government. It is the duty of the government to secure (guarantee/protect) those rights. It is acknowledged that all men are created equal. This equality does not just refer to a person’s skin color, but to their station in life. Those being governed are equal to those governing. No one person is ‘more equal’ than another. Unfortunately, in today’s world, politicians and the ‘elite’ can literally get away with murder, while we ‘serfs’ get jailed for speaking out against the current regime. The sovereignty of the people over the government has been slowly (and politically) eroded. We are living under a type of government our Founding Fathers formed the Constitution to prevent. We are no longer being governed; we are being ruled. The Founding Fathers left one thing out of the Constitution: term limits. Career politicians are a cancer to a fair and just government.
We, the people, have forgotten, ignored, or become complacent to the “consent of the governed” part of the Declaration of Independence. The government, by law (both God’s law and human), has no power over us without our consent. Our own Declaration of Independence tells US, the SOVEREIGN CITIZENS, that we have the RIGHT, we have the DUTY, to “throw off such government;” “when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism.” The Founding Fathers believed in this right enough to state it twice in the opening of the Declaration.
The Founding Fathers had definitive views on how to deal with a tyrannical government when peaceful means fail. These views revolved around the citizens’ right to “keep and bear arms.” The British tried to disarm the colonists; that did not end well for the British. Thomas Jefferson once wrote:
“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
Alexander Hamilton said:
“The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.”
George Washington, the Commander of The Continental Army, 1st President of the United States, who understood better than most, how to fight tyranny, once said:
“Firearms stand next to the constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence. To ensure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interface - - they deserve a place of honor with all that is good.”
I know that no number of facts will sway a fool’s opinion; but look at the gun-related crime statistics in cities with the strictest gun laws, versus those with Constitutional Carry laws. Let me put it this way, if strict gun laws worked, Chicago would be ‘Mayberry.’ (Chicago has one of the highest gun-related crime rates in the country).
It is obvious that the Founding Fathers viewed the preservation of the “Right to Keep and Bear Arms,” even after the Revolutionary War, as paramount to the preservation of a free people. Not just against foreign invasion, but against our own government becoming tyrannical. If you read the 2nd Amendment, that last three words are, “shall not be infringed”. Alexander Hamilton stated:
“If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of the original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government.”
The use of the term, original right; means God-given right; not granted by government, or some group of unelected bureaucrats.
Thomas Jefferson wrote that:
“The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) asserts that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and freedom of the press”.
It is our right and duty to be always armed. It is in plain English, no Latin terms, no lawyer nor elected representative necessary for interpretation. In any situation where it becomes the government versus the people; the government must give way to the will of the people. In any instance(s) where the government does NOT give way; it is tyranny.
It is not just the Founding Fathers that had this view toward an oppressive, despotic government. Abraham Lincoln offered the following view:
“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.”
Woodrow Wilson wrote:
“Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance.”
Late Senator Hubert Humphrey had his own sentiments about citizens being armed:
“… one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be carefully used and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of the citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government and one more safeguard against tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.”
Senator Humphrey was a liberal Democrat at the time. How far the present-day liberals have gone, to all of the “-isms” (fascism, communism, socialism, etc.)
Despite what the DOJ, FBI, liberals, and Biden say, the fact that I quote our Founding Fathers, drive a big, lifted, 4x4, supercharged pick-up with Gadsden Flag and Molon Labe stickers on it; does not make me a “violent extremist”. That is part of the “labelling” and ‘isolating” tactics a tyrannical government will use to suppress opposition. Am I capable of violence? I am capable of extreme violence. Every human being is. Every animal is. Poke a sleeping bear, startle a rattlesnake, they will fight back with the weapons they have. Am I calling for violence? NO. I am simply pointing out where this may be heading if things do not change. A new Civil War will not solve very much; because, in war, nobody wins. At least that has been my experience.
Until next time, stay frosty, watch your six, and keep your powder dry.
References:
Greene, Meg MA, MS and Statharkis, Paula M PhD “The Everything Founding Fathers Book” Avon, MA: Adams Media 2011
Martino, Joseph P. PhD “Resistance to Tyranny” CreateSpace 2010
Paine, Thomas “Common Sense”
The Constitution of The United States
The Declaration of Independence
The Federalist Papers