Path to Liberty

A small, but vocal faction would have you believe that the Constitution itself is the cause of the monster state today. Another wants you to believe that the solution is to just get the words right in the document. But this defies the expectations and views of many leading founders, who considered even their own work a mere “parchment barrier.”

June 7, 1776: Following instructions from Virginia's Fifth Revolutionary Convention, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution in the Second Continental Congress to declare independence, along with a call to form foreign alliances, and a “plan for confederation.” As Mercy Otis Warren described it, “Their transactions might have been legally styled treasonable, but loyalty had lost its influence, and power its terrors.”

The top-10 quotes from the founding generation on the natural right to keep and bear arms. Thomas Jefferson and George Mason, of course, plus Melancton Smith, Mercy Otis Warren - and others. The common thread - it’s a natural right, and essential for liberty.

Although body cams have been touted by some activists as a powerful tool to hold police accountable, recent studies are now suggesting they’ve had little to no impact. Maybe it’s time to listen to other activists, like those who warned that police body cams would only end up as a tool to expand the national surveillance state.

As students of history, the Founders recognized that war and its offspring - like debt, armies and taxes - are the greatest threat to liberty. So they sought to create a system that would guard against it - rather than hurry us into it.

In his 3rd essay, Antifederalist Brutus made the case that ratification should be rejected because representation in Congress was far from sufficient to guard against bribery and corruption. He predicted it would lead to a “government in the hands of the few to oppress and plunder the many.” And he pulled no punches in his opposition to the three-fifths clause - and slavery as an institution.

Author of one of the most widely circulated and read abolitionist books, Lysander Spooner railed against the constitutionality of slavery in the mid-19th Century. Included was his takedown of the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850 - with 7 main objections under the Constitution, and what the people and states needed to do in response. Resist and nullify.

What are the worst federal “laws” ever? Living under the largest government in the history of the world, there are plenty to choose from. The hardest part is narrowing it down to the top-5 - ranging from central banking, gun control, surveillance and more.

Author of the most widely-read papers on American liberty up until publication of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in 1776, John Dickinson earned the name “Penman of the Revolution” for his opposition to the hated Townshend Acts of 1767. From natural rights, to precedent and resistance, the top quotes from his decades-long work in support of liberty.

The 10th Amendment strategy to defend the 2nd Amendment has been gaining steam, but it hasn’t come out of nowhere. It actually started back in 2004, if not sooner. Learn about the people behind the effort - the big names and the unsung heroes - setting the foundation for liberty in the years to come.