It can be argued that the War of Northern Aggression actually started on October 16, 1859, a year and a half before the war’s official start, when the radical abolitionist John Brown and twenty-one of his followers seized the arsenal at the river-junction town of Harper’s Ferry in northern Virginia. Brown’s objective had been to […]
Thomas Paine: Common Sense
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–76 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Written in clear and persuasive prose, Paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at […]
It Did What it Was Written to Do
A great many people – especially conservatives – reverence the Constitution, consider that it has been abused and that if only the doctrines expressed within were revived and respected, all would be well with America again. This, of course, is a kind of children’s bedtime story – and approximates reality to about the same degree […]
Stand Watie
Born at Oothcaloga in the Cherokee Nation, Georgia (near present day Rome, Georgia) on December 12, 1806, Stand Watie’s Cherokee name was De-ga-ta-ga, or “stand firm.” He also was known as Isaac S. Watie. He attended Moravian Mission School at Springplace Georgia, and served as a clerk of the Cherokee Supreme Court and Speaker of […]
Abraham Lincoln’s Terrible War
The war was, on the part of the United States Government, one of aggression and usurpation, and, on the part of the South, was for the defense of an inherent, unalienable right. The great conflict will never be properly comprehended by the man who looks upon it as a war for the preservation of slavery. […]
A War of Aggression: In Perspective, Pt. 2
If I had foreseen the use those people designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. No sir, not by me. Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men, my sword in this right hand. – General […]
The US Constitution Was Never Necessary for Military Defense
Before the US Constitution of 1787 was ratified, its proponents have claimed a centralized and powerful American state was necessary for the purposes of military defense. But, as the Anti-Federalists of the time pointed out, the original constitution (known as the Articles of Confederation) had already been sufficient to allow the colonies to defeat what was […]
Why James Madison Hated Democracy
Why was James Madison so critical of democracies? Moreover, why was he so concerned about them when, according to the definition he provided, “democracies” basically don’t exist anywhere, either in his time or in our own. Today, many conservatives like to claim that “the Founding Fathers” opposed democracy and supported less majoritarian republics. However, as […]
The Whiskey Rebellion: Meet The New Boss
223 years ago today, “The Dreadful Night” occurred in Western Pennsylvania, after an uprising called The Whiskey Rebellion. The United States was brand new. Soldiers who had fought for independence from Great Britain found themselves on opposite sides of a skirmish. Some were having their rights violated practically before the ink was dry on […]
USA, Incorporated
What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else. – Tom Clancy Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, and Caligula, were more honestthan modern politicians in at least one respect: these ancient tyrants made no pretense of being the agents of those over whom they […]