Path to Liberty

With “nullification season” right around the corner, here’s an overview of the top-4 programs that absolutely have to go if we ever want to get to a real “land of the free” The post Nullify This! Top-4 for 2024 appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

In order to go from the largest government in history to a real “land of the free” - these 5 foundational principles from the founders and old revolutionaries - are an absolute must. The post Breaking Free from the Monster State appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

A name almost totally forgotten today, John Dickinson was famous - known as “The Penman of the American Revolution.” A true Lockean in support of liberty, life and property - he helped lead the opposition to the Stamp Act, the Declaratory Act, the Townshend Acts - and much more. The post John Dickinson: A “Great Worthy of the Revolution” appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Nov 10, 1798 - Thomas Jefferson’s Kentucky Resolutions were passed by the General Assembly. Learn 5 core Jeffersonian principles about the nature of the Constitution - rooted in the principles of the American Revolution. The post Jefferson: Top-5 Principles from the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

In a letter to Benjamin Rush, Thomas Jefferson told him of his “trinity of the three greatest men the world had ever produced.” Bacon, Newton and Locke. The post Jefferson’s Trinity appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Alexander Hamilton wanted a central government with unlimited power. And although he didn’t get it on paper, he still pushed for it in other ways after ratification. As a result, today we live under the largest government in history. The post 3 Ways Hamilton Won. 1 He Didn’t. appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

You thought a national bank, implied powers, the whiskey tax, and redefining necessary as convenient was bad enough? Wait till you hear what Hamilton really wanted to do. The post Alexander Hamilton’s Craziest Plan appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Deficits and the national debt have been growing for so long that most people just shrug when we talk about them. They seem to think that the government can just keep kicking the can down the road. But every road comes to an end. The post This is Already an Economic Crisis appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

For many leading founders - from Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Adams - one amendment was not only the “foundation of the constitution,” but also “the Palladium of the private, and personal rights of the Citizens.” The post Bill of Rights: Most Important Amendment? appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

October 26, 2001 - We’re still grappling with the blowback that comes with allowing freedom to be eviscerated in exchange for the false promise of “security” Path to Liberty: October 25, 2023 The post 22 Years of Patriot Act Blowback appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

For James Madison, the people of the several states were both the source of all power - and thus the ultimate solution to usurpations - but at the same time, the source of many of the problems due to the tendency towards factions - ultimately leading to the majority trampling on the rights of the minority. The post We the People: Both the Solution and the Problem appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

The largest government in history is not even remotely close to the system the founders set up under the Constitution. Things didn’t get like this overnight - and there’s a root cause for why it’ll keep getting worse. Understanding it is to also understand the solution. The post We’ve Got a Serious Compliance Problem appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Thanks to a growing number of unconstitutional federal programs, local law enforcement in almost every jurisdiction has been drawn in as tools of a national police state the founders would’ve despised. But states aren’t required to participate, even under modern precedent. Here are 5 big areas where they can simply opt out and help bring this unconstitutional national police state to an end. The post Nullify the National Police State: Top-5 to Opt Out appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Understanding nullification - what it is and what needs to be done - is far easier when you have a good understanding of these foundational principles underlying it. The post Nullification 101: 6 Core Principles appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Just 9 years after Thomas Jefferson called for nullification of the Alien and Sedition Acts - states and individuals took the same kind of strategy against his Embargo Act - signed by Pres. Jefferson in late 1807 - and a series of follow up acts to beef up enforcement of it. The post Jefferson Nullified? The Embargo of 1807-09 appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Few areas from the Founders - if any - have been more widely rejected and misunderstood than their views and advice on foreign policy. Grasping their approach means understanding where it comes from as well. The post Foreign Policy of the Founders appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

For many of the founders, property rights were the foundation of all the others. James Madison took things even further, arguing that people not only have a right to property, but also a property in their rights - tying property rights, self ownership and all natural rights together. The post Property Rights are the Foundation of all the Rest appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

One of the worst years ever, 1913 gave us the tools that support the largest government in history. The post 1913 Was a Terrible Year for the Constitution and Liberty appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

A *permanent* or *baneful* aristocracy - despite federalist assurances to the contrary - with senators mostly serving for life - that's what many anti-federalists warned we'd get with the structure of the federal Senate. The post The Imperial Senate: Anti-Federalist Warnings appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

They certainly didn’t get everything right, but when they did, they almost seemed prophetic. Consolidation, executive power, factions and the ultimate end of despotism. The post Nailed it: Four Big Predictions from the Founders appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

In the years leading up to the War for Independence, the revolutionaries took an increasingly hostile stance against people who collaborated with or helped the British. And no, it wasn’t just tarring and feathering. The post How they Dealt with Collaborators appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

We hear them over, and over, and over again - the same, tired, worn out myths or downright lies about nullification. The post Top Myths about Nullification appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

In a series of speeches during the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Patrick Henry laid out much of the anti-federalist case against ratification without amendments. The foundation underlying all his arguments was a consistent warning against consolidation - or centralized power - and trusting people with that power. The post Patrick Henry: Top Anti-Federalist Warnings appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

The federal reserve isn’t going to end itself. And congress isn’t going to cut off the engine that drives the biggest, most powerful government in the history of the world. It’s up to the states and the people to nullify it into oblivion - where it belongs. The post Nullify the Fed appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Sept 18, 1850 - Pres. Millard Fillmore signed the 2nd Federal Fugitive Slave Act into law. An attempt to implement the Fugitive Slave Clause of the Constitution, the act, at best, had serious constitutional issues. In response, as had been done under the previous act, states passed Personal Liberty Laws which nullified the federal act in practice and effect. The post Fugitive Slave Act of 1850: One of the Worst Ever appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Despite writing on the Constitution for decades - few people today seem to even know the name Lysander Spooner. And most who do, rarely know more than one quote. Time to turn that around. The post Spooner’s Other Statements on the Constitution appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

All the founders agreed that standing armies were a great threat to liberty. The only debate was really the best way to prevent those dangers. But they didn’t come up with this view on their own - it was part of a very long tradition that was opposed to large, permanent military establishments. The post Why the Founders Warned Against Standing Armies appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Forgotten long ago: Essential principles underlying the Constitution and liberty - right from the Founders. It’s time to turn that around. The post Top-5 to “Never Forget” appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Despite the fact that it proved to be mostly a false alarm, the “Powder Alarm” of 1774 showed the colonists that the British were serious - and willing to use gun control efforts to keep them in their place. The post It was Gun Control: The Powder Alarm and the Road to Independence appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Many people hold the false and dangerous view that the federal court system is not only the final say on the meaning of the Constitution - but take it even further - the courts represent the “last bulwark against tyranny.” The post Dangerous Myth: Courts are the “Last Bulwark Against Tyranny” appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Ignorance of liberty, of the constitution, of the powers delegated to the government - and so much more - are just what tyrants absolutely love. And we’re literally surrounded by people who are willfully ignorant of it all. The post Ignorance is the “Footstool of Despotism” appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

To many people today, liberty is little more than choosing new people to rule over them every few years. And even in the founding generation, there was a wide range of viewpoints on just what constitutes a state of liberty. Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: August 25, 2023 The post Liberty and Freedom: A View from the Founders appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

A culture of obedience and compliance guarantees that government will never stop growing - and defiance and nullification represent the “rightful remedy” to usurpations of power. But today, many people live in fear - and never take the steps needed to help advance liberty. The post Fear is the Foundation of Government Power appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Even when states end civil asset forfeiture, a federal program called “equitable sharing” encourages them to participate in a federal version anyway. But the states can opt-out and nullify the federal program into oblivion, where it belongs. The post Nullify the Federal “Equitable Sharing” Asset Forfeiture Program appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

The founders warned us - over and over and over again - about the dangers to liberty from war. As James Madison put it, war gives us armies, which lead to debts and taxes. This trifecta makes up the “known instruments for putting the many under the domination of the few.” The post Armies and Debts and Taxes. Oh My! appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Applying Thomas Jefferson’s strategy for advancing liberty to the massive and ever-growing surveillance state we live under today. One state is following it well, and all other states should copy their strategy as much as possible. The post Thomas Jefferson vs the Surveillance State appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

In his series of 18 letters, Federal Farmer repeatedly warned about the dangers of centralized power, predicting that the proposed government would end in “the destruction of freedom.” Path to Liberty: August 14, 2023 The post Antifederalist: Top Warnings from the Federal Farmer appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

In his last major speech during the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Patrick Henry warned against the potential for “ten thousand implied powers,” and called for a number of amendments prior to ratification. The post Ten Thousand Implied Powers: Patrick Henry’s Final Antifederalist Speech appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Everywhere you turn, it seems like people are at each other’s throats. Everything has gotten political - and it’s only going to keep getting worse. Unless, of course, the people see the source of the problem - consolidation and factions and factions and consolidation - and take action to reject it. The post Decentralization: The Cure for Polarization appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

If you want to understand the Constitution - its original, legal meaning - don’t rely exclusively, or even primarily on the Federalist Papers. You’ll want to read other federalists like James Wilson, Tench Coxe and John Dickinson, plus the leading Anti-federalists as well. The post There’s Much More than Just the Federalist Papers appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

To support the constitution and liberty, these four big federal monstrosities absolutely need to go. But that doesn’t mean we should ever expect the people with power to voluntarily give up that power. The post Top-4 That Need to Go appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Most efforts to stop federal programs miss the mark in a big way. Instead of striking the root, they hack at branches, often setting the stage for more of the same in the future. The post Swing and a Miss: ATF, CBDC, Dept of Education appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

If we truly want to build a real “land of the free,” it’s essential to understand the source of our problems. Using the wisdom and warnings of leading founders and old revolutionaries - we can point to consolidation, or centralization of power. The post Strike the Root: Consolidation appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

In a series of speeches during the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Patrick Henry warned against a combination of the treaty, the judicial power and - the supremacy clause - that it would lead to government violating individual liberty with impunity. The post Treaties, Trials and Supremacy: Patrick Henry’s Anti-Federalist Speeches 8-10 appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

In his series of essays, Brutus repeatedly warned about the dangers of centralized power, predicting that the proposed government would end up exercising “infinite” and “incomprehensible” power. The post Top Warnings from the Antifederalist Brutus appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

An important lesson on power and human nature. Trust no one with power to endanger liberty. That includes - don’t trust the people who tell you to not trust people with power. The post Five Big Flip-Flops from the Founders appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

The number of automated license plate readers has exploded to mind-boggling levels in recent years. Databases now contain billions of scans and they’re growing fast. This empowers local, state and federal governments to not just track you and build profiles on where you go, but also to use AI as a dystopian pre-crime tool to target people based on their driving patterns. The post ALPR: Stalking You by Your License Plate appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root” The post Strike the Root appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

His name forever associated with partisan political trickery, unfortunately few people know much else about Elbridge Gerry. He was a leading revolutionary, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a highly influential figure at the Philadelphia convention, one of only 3 who didn't sign the Constitution, and the 5th Vice-President, serving under James Madison. The post Gerry-Mandered appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.

Government is waging a war on your liberty. And it’s not just happening when the team you don’t like is in power. This is how things have always been. The post A War on Liberty appeared first on Tenth Amendment Center.