A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS, AND THE AMERICAN RESPONSE

[Draggingtree]

Patterico :

7/4/2014

A Constitutional Crisis, And the American Response

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 12:55 pm

 

There is a constitutional crisis in the land. The rulers are ignoring the written constitution, contend many, and are oppressing the people in a manner that deprives citizens of their long-held constitutional rights — rights that the citizens consider innate and God-given.

 

And so, the people take the only action that seems to make any sense: they revolt. Violently.

 

And today, we celebrate their revolution.

 

This is Kevin Gutzman’s interesting take on the American Revolution: that it was actually a “constitutional crisis.” You can hear Gutzman offering the thesis here, on Tom Woods’s podcast:

 

 

Gutzman is the best-selling author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution, which I have read and found excellent, as well as Who Killed the Constitution?,

[Draggingtree]

Jul 6, 1775:

 

Congress issues a "Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms"

 

On this day in 1775, one day after restating their fidelity to King George III and wishing him "a long and prosperous reign" in the Olive Branch Petition, Congress sets "forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms" against British authority in the American colonies. The declaration also proclaimed their preference "to die free men rather than live as slaves."

 

As in the Olive Branch Petition, Congress never impugned the motives of the British king. Instead, they protested,

 

"The large strides of late taken by the legislature of Great Britain toward establishing over these colonies their absolute rule..." Congress provided a history of colonial relations in which the king served as the sole governmental connection between the mother country and colonies, until, in their eyes, the victory against France in the Seven Years' War caused Britain's "new ministry finding all the foes of Britain subdued" to fall upon

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-issues-a-declaration-on-the-causes-and-necessity-of-taking-up-arms