Two-hundred and forty years ago, the Founders of our nation gathered to declare their independence from an overreaching, tyrannical centralized government. They were reaffirming their right to self-governance -- to make their own decisions and determine their own future.
Here's a bit of what they said:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--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 to 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.
They go on to list the abuses King George III had laid upon the American people, and conclude,
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.
Today, we face our own set of abuses from a national government. The particulars of our situation are different, but the fight for self-governance is just as real.
Our country has been moving towards centralized power for too long. It's time that the people and the states once again rise up and declare their right to determine their own future.
An Article V Convention of States provides a legal, safe, and effective means to accomplish this end. A Convention of States can propose constitutional amendments that restore the Founders' vision of a limited central government and return power to the states and the people.
Preserving liberty is possible. This July 4th, let's commit to following the Founders' footsteps and declaring our independence once again.
