by Floyd Bayne - February, 15th, 2016
Let us begin in 1763, when King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting westward expansion of the colonies beyond the Appalachian Mountains. This did not set will with those colonists who had already done so and were required, by law, to return east of the mountain range.In 1765 came the Quartering Act, which allowed for the King's soldiers to commandeer any citizens home they chose to live in. Then the taxes started, the Stamp Act being one of them. Are you starting to get the picture? It was at this time that the colonists began to express their anger and concerns with what they saw as a tyranny exercised over them by "one of their own." You see, at this point most of the colonists still wished to remain British subjects, they just expected to be treated with the same respect and consideration as those who lived in the British Isles.
Now comes the seeking of redress. Using the "system in place," they sent letters and documents, and even representatives to England, asking that the King stop this "taxation with out representation" and allow the colonies to have representation in Parliament, so that their needs and desires would be considered. Is any of this sounding at all familiar to you? Do you see any parallels between then and now?
I won't relate the entire list of grievances that the colonies had with the King and the Mother Country, but you should get the picture by now. It would take 11 years of "seeking redress" through proper channels before the colonies declared their Independence from Great Britain - 11 YEARS! Now, compare that to our current government. We can go back to the Lincoln Administration, maybe even further back if you want to get real picky, for examples of ignoring the Constitution and abusing the rights of citizens. Hell, even the Constitution allowed slavery to continue.
So for almost the entirety of this nation's history our government has been abusing our rights, restricting individual liberty, growing ever larger with each passing election, and here we sit, continuing to think that elections are going to "fix things." I here now submit text from our Declaration of Independence -
"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, IT IS THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ALTER OR ABOLISH IT, AND TO INSTITUTE NEW GOVERNMENT, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."
Think about the abuses we have been subjected to. Think about the fact that we continue to "use the process" hoping for a different result. Think about the fact that we contribute to our own enslavement as a result. Our forefathers sought such redress for 11 years before they did something about it.....11 YEARS! How many more will we wait?
