Founders Archives - Granite Grok

BOLDIN: Emergency Powers – Not in the Constitution

October 3, 2026 Michael Boldin

For Good Reason The word “emergency” doesn’t exist in the Constitution. That means the rules of the Constitution apply whether someone calls it an “emergency” or not. This wasn’t an accident. It was very intentional, and based on the founders’ own warnings, long-forgotten and ignored today. Let politicians have extra power or funding because they … Read more

NATELSON: How the Founders Explained Limits on the Federal Government

July 21, 2026 Rob Natelson

“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.”– James Madison, Federalist No. 45 Current controversy over the power of President Trump to send the National Guard into American cities reminds us of perennial questions about … Read more

opening prayer at the first continental congress

SHURTLEFF: The Faith of The Founders

June 22, 2026 Hal Shurtleff

About this time every year, and more so this year as we celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, our friends on the Left tell us that our nation’s founders were either enlightened freethinkers who thoroughly rejected the tenets of Christianity or that they were evil, exploitative Eurocentric white men whose only purpose in life was to … Read more

BOLDIN: Ignorance and Vice – The One-Two Punch for Tyranny

June 11, 2026 Michael Boldin

“It is in the Interest of Tyrants to reduce the People to Ignorance and Vice.” Samuel Adams warned us – tyranny is built on people who lack knowledge and strong morals. That’s because he knew freedom is built on the opposite foundation. “For they cannot live in any Country where Virtue and Knowledge prevail.” He … Read more

RICHARD: PART VII: The Story Continues

January 2, 2026 Daniel Richard

In the previous six articles, I outlined the history and evolution of the judiciary in New Hampshire. In the last article, I covered how the 1968 BAR merger subverted New Hampshire’s legislative will and entrenched judicial corruption. Therefore, it begs the question: Were these changes to our judiciary a series of unintended consequences (a lawful … Read more

OPINION: How Religious Freedom in America Was Founded on Privatization and Decentralization

December 18, 2025 Ryan McMaken

A common myth about American history is the one in which a handful of so-called “founding fathers” in the 1780s declared that America would create a “wall of separation” between religious institutions and government institutions. After that, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was instrumental in ensuring that religious institutions would be totally separate … Read more

BOWMAN: America’s Infallible Cure

August 29, 2025 Jim Bowman

America’s present situation has been periodically nurtured with falsehoods such as “America isn’t a Christian nation” – not that it’s been a major influence, but it certainly provided more steam for this anti-American engine. A corrective response is best served from the time when America gained its independence. Few realize that a deep study of … Read more

Shurtleff: The Declaration of Independence and the Men Who Signed It

July 9, 2025July 3, 2025 Hal Shurtleff

Mrs. Wolf, my eighth-grade history teacher in a Boston Public School, ensured that her students not only knew the reasons why the 13 colonies united against Great Britain and declared their independence from Great Britain, but also had her students memorize a good portion of the Declaration of Independence. They also had to know about … Read more

Do the Dems Complaining about the DOGE “youth” Know our Founders Ages?

February 18, 2025 Skip

To answer the question in the headline, probably not. As in, no clue at all. Sure, a COUPLE of them might know but they won’t speak up as it would spoil the narrative. But they sure are making a lot of the ages of the DOGE wonderkiddos that are turning up all KINDS of waste … Read more

Anti-Federalist Warnings on Consolidation and Tyranny

February 18, 2025February 18, 2025 Mike Maharrey

In a heated war of words, Luther Martin responded to a series of essays penned by Oliver Ellsworth under the pseudonym Landholder, defending his colleague Elbridge Gerry against Federalist attacks and reinforcing key Anti-Federalist warnings about consolidation and the dangers of unchecked federal power. Gerry and Martin were both delegates to the Philadelphia convention, and neither … Read more

A Forgotten Founder and His Legacy of Liberty

January 18, 2025January 17, 2025 Joe Wolverton, II

On December 22, 1696, James Oglethorpe was born into a world poised between the ideals of liberty and the realities of tyranny. The story of his life, though largely neglected in modern memory, reveals a man dedicated to the cause of justice and the rights of the individual. Through his labors, Oglethorpe shaped not only … Read more

The Founders’ Warnings on Power and Liberty

December 28, 2024December 28, 2024 Michael Boldin

The Founders warned us – again and again – that power always expands, no matter who holds it. You can’t trust anyone with power, no matter how much you like them or what they’re doing with it, because that same power will eventually fall into the hands of someone determined to destroy your liberty. Their … Read more

Pulpit Polity: Dr. Benjamin Rush

June 23, 2024 Op-Ed

We are heading into the celebration of our country’s birth. July 4th is fast upon us! As we reflect on this great day, let us remember the men who sacrificed so much to give us birth as free people.

Advancing Liberty: 4 Essential, Foundational Principles

November 30, 2022 Op-Ed

The “American revolution” was about much more than the war for Independence. In fact, as John Adams noted, the revolution was “effected before the war commenced.”

A Case for the States

January 9, 2022 Op-Ed

As I think many fellow Americans can agree the United States finds itself in troubling territory, and the prospects for the future do not look good. It is a fact that the United States will not last forever, John Adams said in 1814 “Remember Democracy never lasts long.

Is Today’s America What the Founders Had in Mind?

January 20, 2021January 20, 2021

Today seems the right time to be thinking about “first principles.” A first principle is a basic assumption that cannot be deduced any further. First principle thinking is a fancy way of saying “think like a scientist.” Thomas Ricks has a book of the same name that addresses whether today’s America is what the Founders had in mind.

DISQUS Doodlings – About that Electoral College

December 2, 2020 Skip

The Left is VERY desirous about doing to the Electoral College what they did to States’ interests when the Progressives passed the 17th Amendment. If there is a puzzled look on your face, let me explain (quickly).

Religious Freedom and Free Exercise

November 3, 2020

Religious freedom and free exercise of religion are prominent in the First Amendment. Coronavirus response has, among other things brought on a very intense, national debate. Yes, people are continuing to discuss the wisdom of lockdowns.

The Leftist Narrative is Leading us into Danger

September 21, 2020September 20, 2020

Today America is under assault from the Leftist narrative. The police, for example, today are living under a narrative of lies. This is different from the conditions in any other profession. Police motivation, as a group, is largely the desire to help people. However, the story the media is telling is the exact opposite. The … Read more

What Do You Believe and Why Do You Believe It?

August 13, 2020

What did the pledge of their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor mean to the founders? Is the era; are the people of the era which created the foundation of the United States of America inconsequential? That is what the 1619 project, the media and much of academia would have us believe.