Tea Party protest draws historic crowd: Taxpayer March on Washington at 15

The Tea Party movement taught Americans and their elite ruling class a valuable lesson: when the blessings of liberty — especially financial freedoms — are under attack, “We the People” will turn out.

That’s exactly what happened 15 years ago at the Taxpayer March on Washington.

On September 12, 2009, thousands of Americans took to the streets of the nation’s capital to protest “out-of-control spending, bail-outs, higher taxes, a spiraling national debt, and big government liberalism.”

“Let’s send a message to the politicians,” an ad for the event proclaimed. “We’re gonna vote you out of office and take our country back!”

September’s demonstration marked the final — and most crucial — stop in the nationwide Tea Party Express tour. Kicking off on August 28 with a rally in California, which drew 1,500 disgruntled Americans, including future Convention of States Co-Founder and President Mark Meckler, the wave of anti-federal tyranny advocacy swept the nation with passionate enthusiasm, climaxing on the National Mall.

“The high temperatures here Friday were matched only by the heat from throngs of Tea Party protesters who gathered at the statehouse to rail against everything from California’s environmental policies to national healthcare reform,” reported the Christian Science Monitor about the event in Sacramento.

“The government has been pricking at us for a long time,” Meckler told the publication. “Now they are slamming us.”

Driven by opposition to the new President Barack Obama’s sweeping government exploits, the turnout in Washington was impressive. Most sources agree at least 75,000 Americans from all 50 states were in attendance. Others say more than one million participated.

But the marchers were not provoked by the Democratic Party alone. Republicans shared equally in the blame, they said. Many openly fantasized that the Tea Party movement would disrupt the nation’s outmoded two-party system.  

“When Republicans were in power, they acted like everyone else,” one protestor pointed out.

“This is not people upset over one particular politician or one particular party,” another agreed. “In fact, if you ask the Republicans in the crowd, you’ll find they are just upset at their party as they are at the Democrats.”

The entire system had failed. Both parties had helped create the “corrupt, tyrannical aristocracy” of George Mason’s nightmares. Now, both were disinclined to dismantle it. That task fell to the American people.

Catalyzed by an urgent sentiment of respect for the constitutional tradition of limited government, the March on Washington represented an unswerving ultimatum to the entrenched ruling class — either resize the federal government or We (the People) will.

But how?

In the end, the Tea Party protest, despite its impressive crowds and respectable aims, could only make demands — demands that Washington chose not to heed. Not even the historic 2010 Midterm Election Wave — the biggest conservative wave in nearly a century — could permanently alter the course of the leviathan. The system, it seemed, had prevailed.

But, perhaps, in diagnosing the problem correctly, the movement makers had failed to prescribe the correct remedy. They did not need merely to send more Daniels to the lion’s den; they needed to expunge the lions.

Armed with this revelation, patriot leaders like Mark Meckler launched a new initiative — the Convention of States project — to factory reset the federal government. The Tea Party movement and the Taxpayer March on Washington laid the groundwork; Article V would finish the job.

Fifteen years later, the same causes that drove thousands of Americans to protest their government’s seemingly endless growth are more relevant than ever. Now, however, we know that attempts to reform D.C. from within are bound to fail. We must use an Article V convention to stave off tyranny and recreate the country our forefathers gave us.

To join the Article V movement to enact limits on federal spending, power, and terms of office, sign the Convention of States petition below!