The Case for an Independent Militia, 3

Continued from "The Case for an Independent Militia, 2"

The Preamble to the US Constitution begins, "We the People . . . ." It gives the impression that the document originated in a grassroots movement. This is a fiction,  but an important one.

Thomas Jefferson used a similar fiction when he penned the Declaration of Independence.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people . . . . 

That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends (i.e., securing the people's rights, CM), 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.
Jefferson and the Continental Congress founded their appeal for independence on the will of the people, even though only an estimated one-third of colonists supported it. Right or wrong, the signers of the Declaration represented the wishes of the people about as much as the leaders of the People's Republic of China or the People's Democratic Republic of Germany in the Twentieth Century.

In the same way, the convention that scrapped the Articles of Confederation and drafted the Constitution appropriated an air of legitimacy for themselves and their coup when they presumed to represent the will of the people. In reality, it took a great campaign to persuade enough of the people's representatives to vote for ratification.

(For a more complete treatment of the conspiracy and bloodless coup that led to the US Constitution, see Conspiracy in Philadelphia by Gary North -- available free online in PDF form.)

The Framers eschewed democracy, for they did not trust the consensus of the common man. Sadly, the common man -- especially today -- has lived down to those expectations.

Nonetheless, the Constitution is written as a document that officially establishes, in the words of John Wycliffe, a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Whether or not the courts, the legislature and the executive acknowledge it, the Constitution tells us that the extent and limits of our government's power lies rooted in the will of the people.

And, as I demonstrated in the previous post, the people = the militia.

To be continued