My God! how little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy. Thomas Jefferson

Not one man in ten thousand has ever read his own State's constitution or its Bill of Rights. The irony is that the documents themselves state that their primary purpose is "THAT THE GREAT, GENERAL, AND ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF LIBERTY AND FREE GOVERNMENT MAY BE RECOGNIZED AND ESTABLISHED ..."

Many of these documents explicitly state that their specific intention is that ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES BE RECOGNIZED. The Founding Fathers understood that, without learning these essential principles, men would be unable to preserve their liberty and free government could not be maintained.

Freedom can exist only in the society of knowledge. Without learning, men are incapable of knowing their rights, ... Dr. Benjamin Rush - 1786:

To truly understand and appreciate the value of these documents, we need to study them not merely with respect to the information they contain but more specifically to the purpose they intended to serve for it is the intent of the lawmaker that constitutes the law.

As one writer put it, "These documents are the Scriptures of our American Heritage of liberty and freedom." Starting with the Declaration of Independence, we learn their source and purpose. They are the laws derived from the "Laws of Nature and Nature's God" that circumscribe the limitations of power and authority entrusted to the men in government. As such, they are the legal basis by which America citizens, as individuals, are to judge whether or not those bounds have been exceeded or if Government has become destructive of the ends for which it was instituted.

First, there is natural law which stands as an eternal rule to all men, and which is to govern even the government itself. The laws of nature are called the laws of God because they are derived from the same source. It is called the Common Law because it is Common to all men, at all times, and in all places. It sets the bounds of all men including the men in government who possess no powers not delegated by the people themselves. And the people can not delegate powers they themselves do not possess. Therefore, if an individual cannot perform an act without committing a crime, trespass or tort; then he cannot delegate that authority to his representatives in government. It is this which sets the bounds of government.

... freedom of men under government is to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society ..., as freedom of nature is to be under no other restraint but the law of Nature.

... Nobody can give more power than he has himself, ... no man can by agreement pass over to another that which he hath not in himself ... John Locke 1690.

Second, government power is only a fiduciary power which has been established by the people only to act for certain ends. Yet, there remains in the people a supreme power to remove the men in government and alter the government itself when they find that they are acting contrary to the trust reposed in them.

These are the basic principles which are concisely stated in the Declaration of Independence, and which inform us of the ends for which our governments and constitutions were established.

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, ... Declaration Of Independence

The Declaration of Independence tells us that the sole and exclusive purpose for which government was established was to secure the God given birth rights of every American Citizen. This purpose is restated and elaborated on in the Constitution of the State of Alabama:

That the sole object and only legitimate end of government is to protect the Citizen in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property, and when the government assumes other functions it is usurpation and oppression. Alabama, Declaration Of Rights Article I. Section 35.

At this point, we need to digress a bit to point out that, in the hustle and bustle of modern society, those Americans who read do so, for the most part, without reflection. Some material needs to be digested -- not just read. This requires reflection. We need to become consciously aware of this habit of non-reflection so that we can suspend it when necessary. For this material, it is necessary. We need to make these principles our own -- not just words we read somewhere. These documents were written to "TEACH" us to recognize freedom principles, but:

There is no teaching until the pupil is brought into the same state or principle; ... a transfusion takes place; ... then is a teaching;... Spiritual Laws ... Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Once possessed of the principle, it is equally easy to make four or forty thousand applications of it. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

In studying the "laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and the "Principles of liberty and free government" founded thereon, we need to put them in proper perspective.

The Principles of science are in the creation, and are unchangeable and of Divine origin ... Not anything can be studied as a science, without our being in possession of the principles upon which it is founded. ThomasPaine.

The founding of America was truly a political miracle. It was the only Government the world has ever seen that was founded upon the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and instituted for the sole and exclusive purpose of securing and protecting God Given inalienable rights. The Constitution was purposely designed to place strict limitations upon Government to insure that it did not stray from this purpose and become like all the other Governments the world has known. It was not instituted to grant rights and privileges, to regulate the lives and rule over the people. It was not empowered to pass and enforce any law it deemed good. No power was given to make any law that would abolish, abrogate, diminish, or restrict any right. Nor was any power granted that would allow the men in Government to amend the Constitution by any process not authorized by the Constitution itself. These powers were expressly prohibited. Many of these rights are spelled out in these documents which are Supreme Law and are applicable in all 50 states.

This Constitution, ... shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, ... U.S. Constitution, Article VI.

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Sec. 2.

Under these provisions of the U.S. Constitution, the rights enumerated in one State's Bill of Rights are as valid in the courts of the other 49 States as they are in the State where they are listed.

In addition, the rights spelled out in the Northwest Ordinance are equally protected and applicable in the courts of all 50 States by the following provision:

All ... Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution as under the Confederation. U.S. Constitution, Article VI.

Those Americans who place a high value on the freedom we inherited from our ancestors will find these documents to be a real gold mine with extremely valuable nuggets scattered throughout them. While a great deal of this material may seem repetitious, a slight change in wording in one document can give a whole new understanding and appreciation of the intent of a given provision.

These documents are not simply electronically recorded words, they are, as the writer mentioned above put it, "the Scriptures of our American Heritage" the study of which is sacredly obligatory on all. In any case, they are Supreme Law and mighty weapons in the armory of educated warriors who value their freedom and are determined to preserve and restore the God given freedoms guaranteed and secured by these Supreme Laws.

Those of us who are concerned with preserving and restoring the freedoms we inherited from our ancestors are often asked, Where in the Constitution does it say that you have this or that right; Or, we are accused of being "Constitutionalists" or "Constitutional purists"; Or, have been told that the Constitution is a "living or elastic document" (meaning it is subject to changing interpretations, expansions and contractions, by the men in government, to keep step with changing times and conditions).

Such questions, accusations and statements are signs of abysmal ignorance of very basic and fundamental freedom principles. Such apathetic ignorance and complacency stems from strong, yet comfortable, delusions of freedom and security that is a reflection of America's past greatness but that has little or nothing to do with present day reality. And, coming from public officials who have taken an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic; they are ominous signs that America is in great danger of passing into history as an experiment in freedom and self-government that has failed.

To demonstrate the value of these documents, we can use them to answer all of the above.

The rights enumerated in this Bill of Rights shall not be construed to limit other rights of the people not therein expressed. Virginia Declaration of Rights

You will find similar provisions in more than 20 States Bills of Rights. It would have been impossible for our Founding Fathers to enumerate all of our God-given rights, they are limited only by the rights of others. Under the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," "all men are created equal" and no individual and no group of individuals calling themselves a "democracy" or "government" have a moral or legal right to invade another's rights to life, liberty and property - either themselves or through their representatives.

Absolute, arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and property of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority. Wyoming Declaration of Rights Art. I, Sec. 7

This identically worded provision can also be found in the Kentucky Declaration of Rights - Art. I, Sec. 2. This provision goes much deeper than it appears on the surface and is worthy of careful reflection. This is the Principle that separates a Republic from a democracy. Search these documents as you may, you will not find one single occurrence of the word "democracy." You will, however, find many references to the word "Republic."

The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a Republican form of government, ... Article IV, Sec. 4. U.S. Constitution

As to both the accusation of being a "Constitutional Purist" and the Statement that the Constitution is a "Living or elastic document," we can let the following answer for us:

In the words of the Father of his Country, we declare that ... "the constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all." Rhode Island Declaration of Rights Article I, Section I

If we study these documents in the light of this provision of the Rhode Island Declaration of Rights, we will begin to see just how far America has strayed from the basic and fundamental freedom principles upon which it was founded. We will find that a great deal in our constitutions that has never been changed by "an explicit and authentic act of the whole people" is totally ignored today. The "Laws of Nature" have not changed as they are eternal. The question we should ask is, by what authority are they ignored?

When, through study, we learn the answer to that question, we will understand that the American Revolution was a triumph of scientific principles of liberty and free government founded in the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" that overturned the ages old principle of "the divine right of kings" embodied in the king's (ruler's, government's) prerogative that denies the "self-evident" principle that "all men are created equal" and elevates some men to a position of legal superiority over their fellow man. We will find that what the Revolution threw out the front door has crept back in through the rear door.

... law always supposes some superior who is to make it; and in a state of nature we are all equal, without any other superior but Him who is the author of our being. Blackstone

I would strongly suggest that as we study these documents, we keep the following key words uppermost in mind: "Supreme Law" and "Sacredly Obligatory." We should also make a special effort to fully understand the following provision that will be found in many other State Constitutions.

That frequent recurrence to fundamental principles, ... are absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty, and (to) keep government free; the people ... have a right, in a legal way, to exact a due and constant regard to them, from their Legislators and magistrates, in making and executing ... laws ... Vermont Declaration of Rights Article 18th.

Carefully note the words "absolutely necessary." The question becomes, how can we possibly "preserve the blessings of liberty, and keep government free" and "exact a due and constant regard to them (fundamental principles) from ... legislators and magistrates ..." if we are apathetically ignorant of what those principles are? The answer, of course, is that we can't. From this, we can see the priceless value of these documents and the urgent need to study and distribute them to others.

It has ever been the scheme of government to keep the people ignorant of their rights ... Thomas Paine

This brings up another critically important topic relative to these documents. Modern propaganda and legal practice has it that you must be a Licensed Lawyer before you are qualified to understand the "legal meaning" or "interpretation" of our laws and, therefore, the provisions in these documents which are the foundation of all of our laws; and, thereby to, demand a due observation and constant regard of them by our legislators, magistrates and other public officials.

Some of us have even been accused of the "crime" of practicing law without a license when we have attempted to help others defend their rights. This is a throw back to the Dark Ages where the layman could have no intercourse with God's laws save through the intermediary of priests who were qualified members of the clergy in good standing with the hierarchy. Today, the only difference is that those "intermediaries" between citizen "laymen" and the "Laws" are called lawyers and their "superiors in Black Robes" are called judges, and their courts of Chancery are pretending to be courts of law.

I can assure you that the great majority of the founding stock of this nation who demanded and insisted that Bills of Rights be attached to their Constitutions were not lawyers and that they fully understood the limits of the powers they were entrusting to the men in government. In fact, in many Colonies, lawyers were considered vermin and parasites, and were even banished in some of them.

This is such a critically important topic that we should inquire further into the thought of the Revolutionary generation. In effect, John Locke who was considered the ideological progenitor of the American Revolution and who, by far, was the most often non-biblical writer quoted by our Founding Fathers said - any single man must judge for himself whether circumstances warrant obedience or resistance to the commands of the civil magistrate; we are all qualified, entitled, and morally obliged to evaluate the conduct of our rulers. This political judgement, moreover, is not simply or primarily a right, but like self-preservation, a duty to God. As such it is a judgement that men cannot part with according to the God of Nature. It is the first and foremost of our inalienable rights without which we can preserve no other.

To this idea, that has been propagated by the legal profession for so many years now that only lawyers and judges are qualified to understand and interpret the "legal meaning" of our laws, let's examine it in the light of this statement by one of our nation's Founding Fathers:

To say that subjects in general are not proper judges (of the law) when their governors oppress them and play the tyrant, and when they defend their rights ... is as great a treason as ever a man uttered. It is treason not against one single man, but against the state - against the whole body politic; it is treason against mankind; it is treason against Common sense; it is treason against God; And this impious principle lays the foundation for justifying all the tyranny and oppression that ever any prince was guilty of. The people know for what end they set up and maintain their governors, and they are the proper judges when governors execute their trust as they ought to do it. -Jonathan Mayhew

It is clear that this "impious principle" perpetrated by a self serving legal profession is not recognized by Americans because they have never learned the essential principles of liberty and free government. The implementation of this "impious principle" has created an Aristocratic form of government contrary to the Constitution. Under the pretence of a merger of law and equity, "law" has been replaced by "equity" administered by self-appointed "Aristocrats" who are the only ones qualified to judge the law. Jurors are not lawyers. So, they are told they can only determine the facts in a case but are required to accept the law as the judge (aristocrat) gives it to them even if it violates their own conscience.

... the jury in all criminal cases, shall be the judges of the law and the facts. Georgia, Declaration of Rights, Art.I, Sec.II, Para. I

This provision appears in many of these documents. Yet, jurors, ignorant of freedom principles, allow judges to deny them and the defendant the right to have the jury determine the law. Defendants are not even allowed to argue Constitutional principles to the jury because they are not "qualified" to know and understand the "legal meaning" and "interpretation" of the law. In other words they are not "proper judges" of the law.

Resistance to tyranny is OBEDIENCE to God. Thomas Jefferson

James Madison expressed this Principle in a slightly different way.

Resistance to tyranny is SERVICE to God. James Madison

This "Law of Nature" and ESSENTIAL Principle of Liberty and Free Government was far to important to be overlooked. It was incorporated into several State's Declarations of Rights, and is Sacredly obligatory upon all as non-resistance would be DISOBEDIENCE and DISSERVICE to God and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.

That all persons vested with the Legislative or Executive powers of Government are the Trustees of the Public, and, as such, accountable for their conduct: ... the doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind. Maryland Declaration of Rights Article 6.

The price of liberty is not only "ETERNAL VIGILANCE"; it also requires "SERVICE" and "OBEDIENCE" to the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." A little reflection should convince any reasonable person that the "Laws of Nature" cannot be ignored and violated with impunity for any great period of time.

America is entering into a crisis period that will shake this nation to its foundation. If the American People are to meet this crisis intelligently, then it is essential that we learn or relearn, and apply, "THE GREAT, GENERAL, AND ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF LIBERTY AND FREE GOVERNMENT" and the "LAWS OF NATURE AND OF NATURE'S GOD," and the laws contained herein that were derived from that law.

The state of Nature has a law of Nature to govern it, which obliges every one, and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions; ...

... it is certain there is such a law, and that too as intelligible and plain to a rational creature and a studier of that law as the positive laws of commonwealths, nay, possibly plainer; as much as reason is easier to be understood than the fancies and intricate contrivances of men, following contrary and hidden interests put into words; for truly so are a great part of the municipal laws of countries, which are only so far right as they are founded on the law of Nature, by which they are to be regulated and interpreted. ... for truth, and keeping of faith belongs to men as men, and not as members of society. John Locke - 1690.

True law is right reason conformable to nature, universal, unchangeable, eternal ... This law cannot be contradicted by any other law, and is not liable either to derogation or abrogation. Neither the senate nor the people can give us any dispensation for not obeying this universal law of justice ... It is not one thing at Rome, and another at Athens; one thing today, and another tomorrow; but in all times and nations this universal law must forever reign, eternal and imperishable ... God himself is its author, its promulgator, its enforcer, and he who does not obey it flies from himself, and does violence to the very nature of man. Marcus Tullius Cicero (109 B.C. - 43 B.C.)

There are two kinds of injustice; the positive injustice of the aggressor, and the negative injustice of neglecting to defend those who are wronged ... not to defend the oppressed and shield them from injustice, is as great a crime as to desert our parents, friends, or country.... In neglecting the duty of defending others, men are influenced by various motives. They are reluctant to make enemies; they grudge the trouble and expense; they are deterred by indifference, indolence, and apathy; or they are so fettered by their own pursuits and occupations as to abandon those whom it is their duty to protect.... Some men ... say they prefer to mind their own business, and think that in so doing they wrong no one. They thus escape the one kind of injustice only to rush into the other ...

Injustice fights with two weapons, force and fraud ... A common form of injustice is chicanery, that is, an over-subtle, in fact a fraudulent construction of the law. Cicero - On Moral Duties

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. - James Madison

We repeat:

Without learning, men are incapable of knowing their rights ... Benjamin Rush - 1786

Therefore, "without learning" they are incapable of recognizing these "gradual and silent encroachments" on their freedoms and liberties.

It was well known during America's Revolutionary period that Government was not the source of rights. It wasn't just Thomas Jefferson who claimed that men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights," he merely restated what everyone was thinking.

Kings or parliaments could not GIVE THE RIGHTS ESSENTIAL TO HAPPINESS ... We claim them from a higher source - from the King of Kings, and Lord of all the earth. They are not annexed to us by parchments and seals. They are created in us by the decrees of Providence. John Dickerson - 1766

The religion which declares that all are equal in the sight of God, will not refuse to acknowledge that all Citizens are equal in the eye of the Law. Religion is the companion of liberty in all its battles and all its conflicts; the cradle of its infancy and the divine source of its claims. De Tocqueville.

Magna Charta could give nothing to the people, who, in themselves, had all; and only reduced into a small volume, the rights which the nation was resolved to maintain; brought the king to confess, they were perpetually inherent and time out of mind enjoyed, and to swear that he would in no way violate them... This appears so plainly in scripture, that the assertors of liberty want no other patron than God himself; and his word so fully justifies what we contend for ... Algernon Sidney - 1698 Discourses Concerning Government.

God has established the laws of nature just as a king establishes the laws of his kingdom. And there is none of them which we cannot understand if we apply our minds to consider it, for they are innate in our minds, just as a king would stamp his laws in the hearts of his subjects if he had the power to do so ... They are eternal and immutable because God is always the same. Rene Descartes

In proportion as Americans let go of faith in the absolute power of God, they have accepted the belief in an all powerful state. This is true of peoples or nations, for their idea of God determines the form of their civil, political, religious and social institutions. Communism and Socialism are anti-God and anti-Christian; the battle against communism and socialism never was, and is not now, just economic and political; it is religious. Shall Christianity be taken captive? ... from the Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America, Verna M. Hall.

If we wanted to go to the heart of the matter of the principles of liberty and free government v. the principles of socialism relating to property and taxation, there could be no better source or authority than Samuel Adams who was designated by his fellow countrymen as "The Father of the American Revolution."

Our writer ... tells us that formerly the right of taxation was in the King only. I should have been glad if he had pointed us to that time. We know that Kings - even English Kings - have lost their crowns and their heads for assuming such a right. It is true this strange claim has occasioned much contention, and it always will as long as the people understand the great charter of nature upon which Magna Charta itself is founded:

- No man can take another's property from him without his consent. This is the Law of Nature; and a violation of it is the same thing, whether it be done by one man who is called a King, or by five hundred of another denomination. - Samuel Adams, Boston Gazette, Jan. 9, 1769.

It is observable that, though many have disregarded life and contemned liberty, yet there are few men who do not agree that property is a valuable acquisition ... those who ridicule the ideas of right and justice, faith and truth, among men, will put a high value upon money. Property is admitted to have an existence even in the savage state of nature... And if property is necessary for the support of savage life, it is by no means less so in civil society. The utopian schemes of levelling, and a community of goods, are as visionary and impracticable as those which vest all property in the Crown are arbitrary, despotic, and in our government, unconstitutional. Samuel Adams - 1768 The Father of the American Revolution.

As we continue to examine these documents, we will begin to understand that our Founding Fathers placed the responsibility for the future fate of our Republic directly into the hands of the people as there was no other safe repository. It was left to the people themselves, as individuals, to preserve the integrity of the principles of liberty and free government.

In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy, which cunning will discover, and wickedness insensibly open, cultivate, and improve. Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves therefore are its only safe depositories. And to render even them safe their minds must be improved to a certain degree. - Thomas Jefferson.

PUBLIC EDUCATION

"If you would rule the world quietly, you must keep it amused." I notice too, that the ground on which eminent public servants urge the claims of popular education is fear: `This country is filling up with thousands and millions of voters, and you must educate them to keep them from our throats.' Ralph Waldo Emerson

The slavery of a people is generally founded in ignorance of some kind or another; and there are not wanting such facts as abundantly prove the human mind may be so sunk and debased, through ignorance and its natural effects, as even to adore its enslaver, and kiss its chains. Hence knowledge and learning may well be considered as most essentially requisite to a free, righteous government. A certain degree of knowledge is absolutely necessary to be diffused through a state for the preservation of its liberties and the quiet of government.

The duty and obligation to scrutinize the "laws of nature" and the laws contained herein which flowed from them for the knowledge requisite for preserving our legacy of freedom and liberty is not merely optional on our part, it is "absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty, and keep government free."

Implicit faith belongs to fools; and truth is comprehended by examining principles. - Algernon Sydney.

Apply yourself, without delay, to the study of the law of nature. - Alexander Hamilton.

America was established as a nation of laws and not of men. And the laws contained herein are those laws. America's traditions do not have a life of their own. They must be sustained by living commitments. People must give them life continuously or they will expire - especially when they are under attack as they are today.

In summary, the problem is not that we have forgotten freedom principles, but that the great majority of us have never learned them.

The Fifty States' Bills & Declarations of Rights Know Your Rights, If You Don't, You Don't Have Any!

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