Those that stood behind them risked the same. For them and their families there was no other course to take. The bonds with England, the oppressive bonds of England, had to be broken. Nothing less would do. People without representation and the liberties God grants each of us being denied became unacceptable. Our founders had enough of a tyrannical government far removed from their shores holding them in bondage.
And, yes, they were held in bondage just as any slave has ever been. There was not freedom of choice, the freedom to pursue one’s own happiness in any socially acceptable means of using one’s talents. England demanded and the colonies paid, not only in taxes but in the price one always pays for oppression.
As time passed and growth of the colonies occurred, so did the demands on the colonists by their mother country. But, as with all extremely frustrating situations, there comes a time when one’s breaking point is reached. The breaking point was reached for the colonists and thus began the major event of this country’s history, the battle to independence began.
The colonists risked the ultimate for their beliefs. Freedom, liberty, was the precious commodity they were after. They had to be free to determine their own destiny, not have it determined for them. Lives were the price for our freedom.
The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America, and the Bill of Rights are written in the blood of those brave ancestors of ours who held liberty above all else.
On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee read his resolution beginning with: "Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." This was a reflection of the colonists’ thoughts.
The truth of the separation from England is a story that should be told as completely as possible to the people of this nation. To make a long, but interesting, story short, control by a foreign entity became intolerable to the colonists. Courage born of convictions based on the liberties of Man led the colonists to declare their separation from England.
They fought for their independence and gave us ours. They designed and implemented a system of governing independent, sovereign states with the unalienable rights of all men in mind.
In meeting this end, a government of very limited powers with the power of the people of the States being of primary importance was established. It was a government who could not act except in means of defending the States, the people’s liberties, from all who might attack those rights and liberty.
It was a government who had the responsibility of assuring the eventual Constitution was defended against all who might attack it. It was a government set in the parameters of promoting the general well-being of the people.
I think of the courage it must have taken as I write essays about the federal government as it is today. I have fears but I also have the hope that regardless of the government using its dirty, murderous tactics of keeping people in line, that all those who know me know I do not engage in illegal activities and that any charges ever levied against me must be fabricated.
I know as more and more of my thoughts are published, that the powers that be will take notice. I also know that there is not any means the feds will not use to squelch those who act against them. Waco and dozens of examples of federal abuses support this, as does every cover-up done by the federal government.
I have fears but fear of retribution by the feds isn’t what bothers me the most. What is extremely frustrating and eats at me constantly is the attitude of about half of the general populace I have talked to.
Our constitutional rights are being violated by all levels of government but led by the federal government, the entity that is by far the most damaging perpetrator against the principles this nation was founded. The government abuses its limited power and every abuse takes away a piece of the liberty so hard fought for by our forefathers, meaning all of the colonists, not just the ‘founding fathers’.
I talked to a couple of people in the past few days that clearly indicate to me that it is highly unlikely this nation will ever again enjoy the liberties the nation was formed to protect.
In talking to them about the unconstitutionality of taxation on their personal incomes, that they do not have to sign a W-4, nor file a 1040 form giving part of their incomes to the federal government, that they do not owe the federal government anything, they became extremely hostile, but not at the government for demanding their money under false pretences.
Oh, no, these two got hostile at me even though they could, if they wished, read the truth for themselves. Their anger confounded me. Has the government so instilled fear in people that the people accept whatever the government dictates as the gospel truth?
Does the fear of standing up for their rights keep their thought processes from working? How can any person deny their rights simply because the government has fooled them into thinking contrary to those rights?
Or, was it an over-reaction because of my having proof they were wrong after they had spouted all their knowledge concerning taxation (personal federal income tax) and their certainty that the law states every citizen must pay federal income tax and must have a social security number. (The two, when I first began stumbling on the truth of taxation, told me the law was that every person has to get a social security number and every person had to file taxes and allow withholding from their paychecks.)
Well, that induced me to spend hours and hours finding out how in the world I was led to believe basically the same and - could my early reading on the subject be a buch of crap made up by a bunch of dissidents?
With the help of many people, experts who do know the IRS Code and the Constitution, helped me. I will always be indebted to one man, Ed Akehurst, for the effort he put forth as I strived for understanding. (Visit his website, The Center for Citizen’s Rights, if you care for the truth concerning taxation.)
During our annual July week of fishing this year, I was telling - no - I was trying to tell my brothers the truth about our rights. One of them considers himself an expert on taxes so his reaction was predictable. I was directly contradicting his so-called ‘knowledge’ and seriously damaging his ego. But, for that, I will not apologize.
The reactions of the other two floored me. Not that they called me an ignorant bastard but it was close. They started arguing and finally it was ended with the attitude, “Well, I am
just going to keep on paying and not trying to correct it so I won’t get into trouble and it really doesn’t matter whether I am supposed to or not.” Pure negatism drowned any further
attempts by me.
I now find about half the people I have talked to have an over-whelming negative attitude when the subject is broached. God forbid you setting the truth, the Constitution, IRS
Codes, and so on in front of them. Others, including Mr. Akehurst, informed me he has encountered extremely negative reactions when trying to tell people of their rights. He was told in many four-letter expletives how un-American he was and so on.
When people who strive to enlighten people about their liberties, their rights as free citizens of free, soveriegn States, that the federal government isn’t all powerful and is abusing its power are verbally attacked, or physically attacked, by citizens and the government, then it may be that we people who believe in the Constitution and the liberty established through it and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, it may be we are beating a
dead-horse.
When the lies told are accepted just because of being uttered by a government out of control and rapidly becoming as tyrannical as any that has ever existed (grievances could
very well exceed those our forefathers wanted redress for), we are indeed in trouble as the home of the free.
By no stretch of the imagination are we free. We are oppressed and spend half our lives in the servitude of the federal government. Our earnings are stolen, our private lives are invaded, our right to pursue happiness is dictated by the government, and citizens innocent of any wrong-doing are attacked, either financially, physically, mentally, or all three.
What we can or cannot do on our own property is dictated by whatever whims the ignorant in control wish to force upon us. People ignore their own Constitution rather than stand up
for their rights concerning their property.
I am going to be rather blunt on this. No SOB has any right to enter my home or set foot on my property unless I invite them. It is my property and what I do with it is not any level of government’s business.
I abide by the laws of common decency and not interfering with the rights of others (meaning I don’t engage in criminal activities even though I know it is quite profitable.
Just check the financial holdings of members of Congress who have been around since dirt
if you believe crime doesn’t pay).
I do not engage in criminal activities and, thus, feel
violated when any person steps on my property, whether they be law enforcement personnel or not, those religious people who sell their religion door-to-door, or anyone else who hasn't been asked to enter my space.
We are not the home of the free. We could be but not until people pull their heads out of
where the sun doesn’t shine and take control of twelve square miles of little Hitlers, the
District of Columbia, the home (separate from the United States of America, by the way) of
the federal government and, in many senses, a foreign power.
And, without a doubt, the federal government is an entity in and of itself. We, the people of this nation, have assured that. Its power is derived because of ignorance of the populace,
by the falsehoods being probagated by people in the population who refuse the truth. The frustrating part is they are intelligent people in many cases but I guess not intelligent enough to search for the truth even though the truth is in their favor.
Could they ever be empassioned to the degree necessary to do as the colonists did - demand their liberty and rights of non-interference in their lives as long as those lives are
being lived as innocent, law-abiding (not law abused) people?
I think not. They bitch about different government actions but, when it comes right down to it, they beliefs are as weak as their arguments. It takes passion to put one’s self on the line,
to fight against ‘City Hall', so to speak.
Their passion, such as it is, can be molded too
easily. Their concept of ‘freedom’ they believe in is as false as the so-called 'facts' passed on to the youth of this nation.
When the tide of government washes over these people, they will move just as the sands move when the tide washes over them. These people will succumb to the will of the government while puffing out their chests and calling themselves “good Americans”, which is about
as much of a misnomer as possible.
Then, again, maybe standing up for their rights is just too damn much trouble for them to go to. After all, it is just sooo much easier to resist change rather than embrace it and work for it; to respond to strings being pulled rather than standing on one’s own as “a good American” in fact and deed...