What Were the States?

In hopes to curb federal authority, limited government advocates are increasingly shifting their focus toward their own respective states. It is through the grassroots work of individual citizens and of the state governments themselves, it is thought, that a realistic means in scaling back the abusive overreach of Washington can be achieved. In order to achieve the maximum in limited government and reaffirm the constitutional sovereignty of the states in the modern age, it’s necessary to take a step back and remember the original nature of the union from the drafting of the Articles of Confederation through the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.

An interesting article I came across while rummaging through the infinite achieves of LewRockwell.com takes a deep look at the true origins of the founding of the United States and analyzes the often neglected truths of our constitutional history and state sovereignty. Instead of viewing the United States as a singular, consolidated entity as most now see it, this article likens the United States to a political union not so dissimilar from the current United Nations.

A defining – but so far unasked – question regarding the Civil War is the political status of the states: specifically, was the "United States of America" indeed, as our popular Pledge of Allegiance claims, "one nation, indivisible?" Or was it, rather, a union of sovereign nations, bound only to each other by mere treaty, as with any other treaty – such as the current United Nations?

Regardless of how deep your own personal feelings and aspirations concerning states rights are, this article presents an interesting and slightly alternative perspective on the issue and perhaps sheds new light on the modern struggle for states rights.

You can check out the rest of the article here.

Tom Woods on the Principles of '98

In 1798, the legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky approved resolutions that affirmed the states’ right to resist federal encroachments on their powers. If the federal government has the exclusive right to judge the extent of its own powers, warned the resolutions’ authors (James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, respectively), it will continue to grow – regardless of elections, the separation of powers, and other much-touted limits on government power.

Right now, of course, that's exactly the situation we have -- the national government, often through the Supreme Court's self-granted ability of judicial review -- determines the limits of its own power.  Not surprisingly, those limits are few. 

Read Woods' entire article here.  Thanks to Steven St.Jean for the link.