“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.”
The year was 1775 and a ragtag militia picked up arms and stood before overwhelming odds. Why? Why would farmers leave their fields knowing they most certainly would be defeated? To understand why read those words again from our Declaration of Independence.
The colonists wanted something that was not known in the world. The idea that man held the power to govern himself. And that was, and still is, worth fighting for.
Today we are watching the fabric of America unravel and we question if there is any hope. Let the words of Patrick Henry answer that question. On March 23, 1775, standing before fellow Virginians, Henry stirred patriots to action with these words,
“Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.”
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Our founding fathers were arguably the most inspired assembly of intellectuals ever united and they drafted a supremely unique and timeless document to govern our land.
Do not allow those pushing the radical agenda in this country to tell you differently. America is exceptional. When our forefathers wrote our constitution, the world was watching. Here was a country that was instituting a government that would not be controlled by a monarch. Was that even possible? The establishment of a government in which people ruled themselves, would, in decades to follow, set off a string of revolutions throughout Europe. At that time people wanted what we had and 244 years later, they still do.
In the fall of 1787, our Constitution was presented to the states for ratification. On December 7, 1787, Delaware became the first state to sign the document with New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania following. Other states, predominantly Massachusetts, would not sign until the constitution enumerated specific individual rights guaranteed to the people.
With the guarantee that a Bill of Rights would be added, the Constitution was again presented to the states. A 2/3 majority was needed for the constitution to become law and on June 21, 1788 our great state of New Hampshire became the ninth state to sign and thus we had our governing document. From that moment, the United States of America stood unique among nations.
On December 10, 1791, the Bill of Rights was added and became the first ten amendments to the US Constitution.
Almost two and half centuries later, we have sadly drifted from a government of limited powers to a government of overreaching power.
How have we strayed so far?
When did we become so complacent? How do we save our country?
Most of us can paraphrase the first and second amendments of the Bill of Rights but have little idea what the 10th says, yet it is this amendment that may save the day. It reads:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”
Currently, our federal government is doing everything it can to circumvent states’ authority. Some governors are standing on their 10th amendment rights and fighting back. Other states, including our beloved Live Free or Die state, see their governors working hand and hand with the federal government, willing to sell their state’s sovereignty.
On July 19, 2014, Ted Cruz at the Western Conservative Summit, was asked what we as citizens can do to take back what is reserved to us in the 10th Amendment. His answer was simple, first, he said, “Speak out,” second, “Work to elect constitutional conservatives that will honor the constitution.” Unfortunately, Governor Sununu is no friend to the hard-working people of New Hampshire and is willing to take federal funds that give the federal government control over what is best for our state.
Over time, we, the American people, became apathetic. If we remain indifferent, shame on us. This is not the America our founding fathers envisioned, and it certainly is not the America our veterans fought and died for. Get up, get involved. Start with your local and state governments. Log onto their websites and see what is going on and go to local meetings including school board meetings and hold our elected officials accountable!
Restrain their governing powers.
Join conservative groups online and verify everything you hear and read. Whenever you feel defeated, read the follow quote from Patrick Henry’s Give Me Liberty of Give Me Death speech.
“They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power.”
As we the people were sleeping, the federal government was overreaching and shifting power to themselves. We are left with a challenge that appears insurmountable. It is not. But it will take all of us if we are to pass freedom on to the next generation.
