After
a very long and enduring war, it was clear that England could not break
the will, minds, spirits, or intentions of the American army. Through
the command of General George Washington, the colonists had won the
final victory. Outnumbered by troops, under equipped, and under trained,
the colonists found their strength in God, and within their Godly
leaders. In their eyes and before the eyes of God, their mission and
their goal was a Godly one. They could in no way lose. And because of
following God's guidance, they accomplished all that they originally set
out to do.
With
the war over, the Continental Congress had many things to do. In 1783,
they ratified a peace treaty with Great Britain at the close of the
Revolutionary War. The treaty began:
In
the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity. It having pleased the
Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most
potent Prince George the Third, by the Grace of God King of Great
Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith,... And of the
United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and
differences....
The
Continental Congress in 1787 passed an act in which special lands were
designated:
...
For the sole use of Christian Indians and the Moravian Brethren
missionaries, for civilizing the Indians and promoting Christianity.
[This act was extended three times during Thomas Jefferson's
presidency].
Continental Congress May 14, 1787, began the Constitutional Convention
at the State House (Independence Hall) for the purpose of revising the
Articles of Confederation and formulating the Constitution. George
Washington, who had been unanimously elected as President of the
Convention, rose during the Convention and admonished the delegates:
If
to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we
afterward defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and
the honest can repair; the event is in the Hand of God!
In the
beginning of our great nation, politicians showed some characteristics
that are still seen today. On Thursday, June 28, 1787, the
Constitutional Convention was embroiled in a bitter debate over how each
state was to be represented in the new government. The hostile feelings
created by the smaller states being pitted against the larger states,
was so bitter that some delegates actually left the Convention.
Benjamin Franklin, being the President (Governor) of Pennsylvania,
hosted the rest of the 55 delegates attending the Convention. Being the
senior member of the convention, at 81 years of age, he commanded the
respect of all present, and, as recorded in James Madison's detailed
records, he arose to address the Congress in this moment of crisis:
Mr.
President, the small progress we have made after 4 or five weeks close
attendance & continual reasonings with each other our different
sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as
many noes as ayes, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of
the Human Understanding.
We
indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been
running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for
models of government, and examined the different forms of those
Republics, which, having been formed with the seeds of their own
dissolution, now no longer exist. And we have viewed Modern States all
round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our
circumstances.
In
this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find
political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us,
how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of
humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding?
In
the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible
of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine protection.
Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of
us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent
instances of a superintending providence in our favor.
To
that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in
peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And
have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no
longer need His assistance?
I
have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing
proofs I see of this truth that God Governs in the affairs of men. And
if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it
probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We
have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that "except the Lord
build the House, they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe
this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall
succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel:
We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be
confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down
to future ages.
And
what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance,
despair of establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to
chance, war and conquest.
I
therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the
assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in
this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one
or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that
service.
Jonathan Dayton, delegate from New Jersey, reported the reaction of
Congress to Dr. Franklin's rebuke:
The
Doctor sat down; and never did I behold a countenance at once so
dignified and delighted as was that of Washington at the close of the
address; nor were the members of the convention generally less affected.
The words of the venerable Franklin fell upon our ears with a weight and
authority, even greater than we may suppose an oracle to have had in a
Roman senate!
Following the historical address, James Madison made a motion, which was
seconded by Roger Sherman of Connecticut, that Dr. Franklin's appeal for
prayer be enacted. Edmund Jennings Randolph of Virginia followed with a
further motion:
"That a sermon be preached at the request of the convention on the 4th
of July, the anniversary of Independence; and thenceforward prayers be
used in ye Convention every morning."
The
clergy of the city responded to this request and effected a profound
change in the convention, as noted in Jonathan Dayton's records, when
they reconvened on July 2, 1787:
We
assembled again; and... Every unfriendly feeling had been expelled, and
a spirit of conciliation had been cultivated.
On
July 4th, the entire Convention assembled in the Reformed Calvinistic
Church, according to the proposal by Edmund Jennings Randolph of
Virginia, and heard a sermon by Rev. William Rogers. His prayer was a
reflection of the hearts of all the delegates following the convicting
admonition of Dr. Franklin:
We
fervently recommend to the fatherly notice... Our federal convention...
Favor them, from day to day, with thy inspiring presence; be their
wisdom and strength; enable them to devise such measures as may prove
happy instruments in healing all divisions and prove the good of the
great whole;... That the United States of America may form one example
of a free and virtuous government...
May
we... Continue, under the influence of republican virtue, to partake of
all the blessings of cultivated and Christian society.
Continental Congress passed "An Ordinance for the Government of the
Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio," later
shortened to the Northwest Ordinance. (This ordinance was later passed
by the United States Congress, and signed into law by President
Washington, August 4, 1789, during the same time the First Amendment was
being formulated):
Article III Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of
education shall be forever encouraged.
On
September 17, 1787, the Continental Congress called for a vote on the
new Constitution. Thirty-nine of the 55 delegates at the Constitutional
Convention signed the Constitution. By June 21, 1788, nine of the states
had ratified it, establishing the Constitution. All of the states had
completed ratification by January 10, 1791.
Virtually every one of the 55 writers and signers of the United States
Constitution of 1787, were members of Christian denominations: 29 were
Anglicans, 16 to 18 were Calvinists, two were Methodists, two were
Lutherans, two were Roman Catholic, one was a lapsed Quaker and
sometimes Anglican, and one was an open Deist. Dr. Franklin who
attended every kind of Christian worship, called for public prayer and
contributed to all denominations.
On
August 4, 1789, Congress of the United States of America re-passed the
Northwest Ordinance, having been previously passed under the Articles of
Confederation. The United States Annotated Code, in establishing
requirements for those territories seeking statehood, lists the
Northwest Ordinance as one of the most significant governmental
instruments, along with the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration
of Independence and the Constitution.
Deeply
held religious convictions springing from the Holy Scriptures led to the
early settlement of our Nation.... biblical teaching inspired concepts
of civil government that are contained in our Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution of the United States.
In the
forming of this nation wars were fought and many died for that which
they believed. Prayer went forth proceeding each battle that God would
keep and protect them. God was at the forefront of everything that was
done in those days of continuous struggle. Finally, after God gave
Washington the victory at Yorktown, there seemed to be at last a nation
ready to be birthed out of this wilderness land. A nation that would bow
down unto the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God-fearing men such as
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and
James Madison to name a few. These men formed the Constitution of this
young country with this preamble:
We
the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
There
were seven articles to this Constitution. The political theory of the
Constitution is that no man or set of men should rule the people.
However, Thomas Jefferson still thought that the government was not
restricted enough and had too much power over the people. The
Constitution was amended and the first eight of these Amendments are
known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights does restrict what the
government can do in terms of oppressing the people. Thomas Jefferson
said,
...
restrict your government, chain it, limit its abilities. Those who wish
to be both ignorant and free, want something that has never been and
will never be. If people do not know their Constitution they will lose
it."
I
wonder how many people today even know, in general, the main thrust of
the Constitution and its amendments? As a nation, there are probably few
who know and understand our constitutional rights as citizens.
Bill of Rights
AMENDMENT 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
There
is no place in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights that says anything
about separation of the church from the state. We hear over and over
again this quoted by those who are enemies of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. The passage that they are using is taken out of one of the
private letters of Thomas Jefferson. Neither Thomas Jefferson nor the
rest of our founding fathers ever intended for the Bible and prayer to
be banned in our schools. In fact, to the contrary, the Bible was the
standard textbook of every school in this country. We need to keep in
mind that the very reason for this and the other Amendments was to
restrict, limit, and chain our government so that it would not be able
to rule the people. Our Congress has done exactly the opposite. We are
now prohibited from having prayer in our schools, quoting the Bible, or
having the Ten Commandments posted on a school building. In the first
statement of this Amendment we are assured that the government would not
enforce any type of state governed religion upon the people. It is going
to be very interesting to watch how our government will implement the
changing of this Amendment in the times that are coming.
Freedom of speech was political speech and religious speech; being able
to express your views on these subjects without being imprisoned for
those views. A few years ago people began to burn the American flag,
calling it an act of free speech. In Thomas Jefferson's day this would
have been considered an act of treason against the sovereignty of our
government. We still have the right to peaceable assembly. In many
countries, people have to register with the law agencies before they can
assemble.
In the
last part of this amendment we find it saying, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances. This means that if there is
something you do not like that the government has done, you can get
people to sign a petition stating your displeasure. However, that does
not mean that the government will change their stand on the matter, but
it will let them know that people are not happy with their decision.
Some people think that the politicians pay little if any attention to
these petitions. It would do good for us to remember that these
politicians are elected officials and if enough people are unhappy with
them they may not get reelected. For this reason alone, our petitions
are looked at and taken into consideration, especially when thousands of
signatures are on them.
AMENDMENT 2
A
well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
This
amendment was not in place for us to be able to hunt, target practice,
or defend ourselves against criminals. Now, you can do all of these if
you should desire, but the meaning is actually to protect us in case our
government becomes a tyrant; so we would be armed, consequently capable
of stopping our government of such aggression.
There
was once a time in our country that required each citizen to have at
least one firearm in their home, and they were trained to handle it.
Today militias are literally springing up all over America. People are
starting to realize that the government is becoming exactly what our
forefathers did not want it to become; a tyrannical power over the
people.
AMENDMENT 3
No
soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the
consent of the owner; nor in time of war but in a manner to be
prescribed by law.
This
amendment is saying that the U. S. Army does not have the right to take
your home and use it to quarter soldiers, unless by prescribed law. This
means during earthquakes, hurricanes, storms, civil unrest, or war. This
can be prescribed in a way that the owner is given just compensation.
AMENDMENT 4
The
right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported
by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
This
amendment has been completely abused right before our own eyes. The
situation that took place in Waco, Texas, shows very plainly that their
personal effects were seized, and their lives were taken from them.
These people were not secure in their persons, their effects, or their
papers, and this was done by judges and attorneys who had no regard or
respect for our Constitution that they had sworn to protect.
The
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms conducted this atrocious act
for political reasons. The government wanted to see how far they could
go before the people said, enough. This is setting us up eventually for
a police state. I believe that was exactly what Hitler did. We went to
war to stop that atrocity and now we are trying to implement Hitler's
plan right here in America.
Jefferson knew that any government had the potential to abuse its
authority. That is why he said to "chain your government, limit your
government" so this would not happen to this country. The right of
the people is not the right of the government and that is what our
government is trying to get us to believe.
AMENDMENT 5
No
person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in
actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be
subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or
limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation.
Amendment five states that when someone is found innocent by jury, they
are not to be tried again on the same charges. We are seeing this
amendment broken also.
In the
Rodney King incident, the police officers who were found innocent were
tried again for the same crime. The Justice Department officials and the
district attorneys betrayed their oath of office when they charged them
again with the same crime. They used the terminology "separate domain,"
but it was the same crime.
I
wonder why the media is not screaming about this violation of the
Constitution? Why were these district attorneys not indicted for
violating the civil rights of these officers? This was outlawed by our
government over 200 years ago.
This
amendment also guarantees that you will not be thrown into jail and left
there for years without knowing what the charges are. In law terminology
you have a writ of habeus corpus that prevents that
from happening.
People are being held in jail for literally years while their cases go
through the courts.
We
also find within this amendment that it contains the right of an
individual not to be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness
against himself. This is often referred to as "taking the Fifth
Amendment."
The
last point in this amendment tells us that we will not be deprived of
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall
private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. The
Rico Act was passed in 1970 for the specific reason of fighting against
gangsters. Under the Rico Act, and under the drug enforcement statues,
the government can steal your house, your personal property, and you
have the burden of proof that you are innocent. The government does not
have to prove that you are guilty; you have to prove that you are
innocent. Somehow, that does not sound like something our forefathers
would have done. This is happening to numbers of people that are being
singled out by our government for one reason or another. These people
are not gangsters or drug dealers; even the Catholic Church has been
indicted on a Rico statute.
AMENDMENT 6
In
all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy
and public trail, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein
the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against
him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor,
and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
This
Amendment really is an extenuation of the sixth Amendment. It is saying
that a person is to have the right to a speedy and public trail. As I
said before, this has been in violation for a long time now.
AMENDMENT 7
In
suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty
dollars, the right of trail by jury shall be preserved, and no fact
tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United
States than according to the rules of the common law.
It
should be pointed out that the twenty dollars they are talking about
would have the purchasing power of about two hundred dollars today.
Notice that there is also a reference here to common law. Common law is
judicial precedent, meaning whatever court cases have been decided in
the past. This is one way of viewing the Constitution. People who
believe in common law; people who support the idea of what they call a
Living Constitution, say that the Constitution does not mean what it
says. It means what the courts have interpreted it to mean over the
years. That of course, is very dangerous. This type of application of
our Constitution becomes more and more corrupt the further from the
original that they get.
This
amendment guarantees the right of trail by jury, and that no fact tried
by jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the law other
than according to the rule of common law. This has been abused so often
that it has become a precedent that has been set for this nation.
This
nation is over two hundred years old. The history of every bureaucracy
known to man is that bureaucracy will try to expand and retain its
power. Our bureaucrats today are simply taking away more and more of our
individual respective rights, because they want to have total control.
AMENDMENT 8
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
The
problem with bail is that any judge in this country can set bail at
whatever he feels appropriate. You can be found totally innocent, but in
order to put up that bail to get out of jail, it will cost you, usually
ten percent of the total bail. In effect, the judge can fine you money,
even if you are innocent.
What
about cruel and unusual punishment? People who are placed on death row
for years are a good example of this. These people are forced to go
through many appeal processes that can literally take years. Is this not
cruel and unusual punishment? I believe that it is, but let me also say
that I am in favor of the death penalty. The lawyers are getting rich
through all of the legal procedures that are needed through the appeals
process.
AMENDMENT 9
The
enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed
to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
When
Judge Robert Bork was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, he said that
because this amendment did not specifically enumerate a right, it did
not mean anything. Just because the Constitution does not say you have a
particular right, does not mean you do not have that right. In this
amendment we see that the Constitution has already given us a guarantee
that when other inalienable rights come to light, the Constitution is
there to protect us from the government's encroachment upon those
rights.
AMENDMENT 10
The
powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,
or to the people.
This
amendment means that unless a power is specifically given to the federal
government, that power is reserved for the states, or the people; powers
such as taxation, militia control, civil rights, and schools. We now
have our federal government and federal judges telling the states how
their prisons ought to be, what their schools will be, what their roads
shall be, how many people they are going to employ, and the list goes on
and on.
This
started during the War Between the States and accelerated during the
civil rights movement that began in the 1950s. There were a lot of the
states that were not going to give civil rights to the populations,
because of their sex or color of their skin. As a result, the federal
government moved in and took over the matter.
This
was no doubt a good idea, but it set a very bad precedent. Once the
states lost the power to rule themselves, they were no longer states;
they became provinces under the control of the government. This is the
very thing that our forefathers were trying desperately to keep from
happening to further generations, but we fell into the trap anyway.
America
Forsaken Chapter 4
America
Forsaken Chapter 6
