PATRIOTS FOR LIBERTY

About Us

Home
About Us
Get Involved!
Issues
Massachusetts Counties
Liberty Tree
Resources
Massachusetts State Symbols & Facts
Messenger of Truth blog
Yahoo! Group
Follow Us on Twitter!

Patriots for Liberty is a peaceful, democratic, grassroots solidarity movement committed to encourage and support the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' development into a separate, sustainable nation-state.
 
Education is central to a prosperous, tolerant and civilized society.  The Patriots for Liberty will sufficiently arm the public with the intelligence needed to make decisions based on what is good for our communities as a whole. 


 
 
Statement of Principles

The following moral-political issues are guiding principles.  A work in progress.  This is (slightly edited) from the article:  "Secular Humanism and Politics: When Should We Speak Out?"  by Paul Kurtz


First, we are committed to free inquiry, the free mind, freedom of research, respect for civil liberties, and the open democratic society. This entails the right to believe, or not believe, in prevailing religious or ideological doctrines. We object to any effort to censor or prohibit dissent and restrict liberty.

Second, we defend the separation of church and state and the secular state. Accordingly we are strong critics of efforts to impose theocratic or quasi-theocratic measures.

Third, in endorsing freedom of the individual, we embrace the right of privacy. This encompasses freedom of conscience, the right to control one's body, reproductive freedom, contraception, euthanasia, abortion, and sexual freedom between consenting adults.

Fourth, we believe in equality of opportunity, equal access, and fair treatment of all individuals in society. Supporting the rights of women, gays, handicapped people, Blacks, Hispanics, nonbelievers, and other minorities.


 

NOTE:  I am not affiliated with any Humanism organization.  However, I do agree with their principles.

 

 
 
The Spirit of America
 
 
Our Founding Fathers knew of the nature of man and wrote the United States Constitution to help prevent over-indulgency, tyranny, and governmental abuse. Our federal government was founded on the Constitution.  But over the years, starting early in our presidential history, the pendulum had been allowed to swing off center, soiling the words of Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, Franklin, Washington, and Paine.  The Declaration of Independence had been taken in vain, and the United States Constitution manipulated and bastardized.
 
Although we are far removed from the abuses and usurpations our Founding Fathers had experienced, the current threats to our liberty are still very real.  They may hide their true nature and be more sophisticated, but its' prominence is, nevertheless, undeniable.  As antiquated a time it may seem,  the same wisdom our Founding Fathers prescribed then are just as valid now.   From our Founding Fathers I offer some of their thoughts regarding the building of this great nation, in their own words:
 
" I draw my idea of the form of government from a principle in nature, which no art can overturn, viz. that the more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and the easier repaired when disordered..."
~ Thomas Paine, from his pamphlet "Common Sense".
 
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."
~ George Washington, speech of January 7, 1790 in the Boston Independent Chronicle, January 14, 1790

"If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify."
~ Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 33, January 3, 1788

"It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much ...to forget it."  ~  James Madison

"Liberty can not be preserved without general knowledge among people."
~ John Adams

So...What is this all about?  It's about Patriotism. It's about Liberty. This is about being safe. It's about re-examining the "Experiment".   Our Founding Fathers wanted a government to secure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for its citizens -- all of whom would be treated equally.  Lawrence W. Reed wrote an article entitled "The True Meaning of Patriotism".  In it Reed writes:

"I subscribe to a patriotism rooted in ideas that in turn gave birth to a country, but it's the ideas that I think of when I'm feeling patriotic. I'm a patriotic American because I revere the ideas that motivated the Founders and compelled them, in many instances, to put their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on the line."

This isn't about creating radical changes we Bay Staters aren't prepared for, nor desire.  This isn't about overthrowing the govenment.  This is about stepping back and looking at the "Big Picture".  It's about engaging people in constructive conversations about what it means to be an "American." 

We Americans did not declare our independence from the reign of King George III to create a government that would enable the president  to declare federal martial law without the consent of the governor or local authorities; spy on its citizens; set up a national identification program, heading us toward an Orwellian surveillance society; invade foreign countries without just cause; torture enemy combatants, detain suspects without charges; censor the press, and lie to its' citizens.  

If we Americans condone losing our Liberties under the guise of a "war on terror",  it is because we allow the ills of ignorance to sicken our minds, and the distractions of greed to poison the spirit.      

"Our country is too large to have all its affairs directed by a single government. Public servants at such a distance, and from under the eye of their constituents, must, from the circumstance of distance, be unable to administer and overlook all the details necessary for the good government of the citizens, and the same circumstance, by rendering detection impossible to their constituents, will invite the public agents to corruption, plunder and waste. And I do verily believe, that if the principle were to prevail, of a common law being in force in the U.S. (which principle possesses the general government at once of all the powers of the state governments, and reduces us to a single consolidated government), it would become the most corrupt government on the earth."
~ Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Gideon Granger of Connecticut, Aug. 13, 1800

What  are the benefits of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts reasserting her sovereignty?  Smaller government is more efficient. Smaller government may actually be more democratic than that which we have now.  Folks would be more likely to get more involved with their communities and local politics, and exercise informed control in the voting booth.  Washington DC is out of touch with the needs of Massachusetts, and has strayed from our ideals.  By reaffirming our sovereignty, it would be a chance for the people of this Commonwealth to control our own future.

Fellow Patriots, this country was founded on the principle of securing liberty for its citizens. The founding documents and institutions all emphasize that liberty is a core value.  As citizens we know our obligations.  We will decide our future, whether it be dictated by ignorance, or directed with knowledge.  I hope you choose knowledge.  Together we can restore what our Founding Fathers bequeathed to us. 

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country."
~ Benjamin Franklin, letter to Benjamin Vaughn, March 14, 1783

 

Thrive!

 

Compiled and edited by C.A. Chicoine

Researching the aspects of state sovereignty has been an endeavour that I found stimulating, inspiring, educational, frustrating, and overwelming at times. My place in this world has been reaffirmed. My role becoming clearer with each passing word that consumes my mind. And yet, I have only touched the stratosphere of this bold world. 

 


We Are
 
Patriots for Liberty is a nonpartisan nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 2006 as a vehicle for citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to sufficiently arm themselves with the intelligence needed to secure and protect our liberty.
 
NOTE:  This website is for informational purposes only.  There is no "group" per se.  This is a resource for residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Getting to know your government, it's resources, and your options.
 
 


 
Sovereignty and federalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In federal systems of government, such as that of the United States, sovereignty also refers to powers which a state government possesses independently of the federal government.

The question whether the individual states, particularly the so-called 'Confederate States' of the American Union remained sovereign became a matter of debate in the USA, especially in its first century of existence:

  • According to the theory of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and John C. Calhoun, the states had entered into an agreement from which they might withdraw if other parties broke the terms of agreement, and they remained sovereign. These individuals contributed to the theoretical basis for acts of secession, as occurred just before the American Civil War. However, they propounded this as part of a general theory of "nullification," in which a state had the right to refuse to accept any Federal law that it found to be unconstitutional. These self-same southern states accepted that non-slave states had such nullificatory rights, but protested that the Federal government enforce the Fugitive Slave Act over any state's attempt to nullify it-- but only by sanction, never by military force. However the premises of the Act was explicit in the Constitution under Article IV, Section 2, which required that all prisoners or slaves who escaped into other states, must be returned to their state of origin. Some states argued that, in addition to violating the rights of the alleged slave, because the Constiution provided for no mechanism of enforcement by the federal government, it was reserved to the states,

Likewise, according to the theory put forth by James Madison in the Federalist Papers "each State, in ratifying the Constitution, was to be considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act. In this relation, then, the new Constitution [was to be] a federal, and not a national constitution." In the end, Madison likewise compromised with the Anti-federalists to modify the Constitution to protect state sovereignty: At the 1787 constitutional convention a proposal was made to allow the federal government to suppress a seceding state. James Madison rejected it saying, "A Union of the States containing such an ingredient seemed to provide for its own destruction. The use of force against a State would look more like a declaration of war than an infliction of punishment and would probably be considered by the party attacked as a dissolution of all previous compacts by which it might be bound."

During the first half-century after the Constitution was ratified, the right of secession was asserted on several occasions, and various states considered secession (including, for example, the New England states during the War of 1812; in response, not a single state objected on the grounds that such was unlawful. It was not until later, c. 1830, that Andrew Jackson, Joseph Story, Daniel Webster and others began to publish the theory that secession was illegal, and that the United States was a supremely sovereign nation over the various member-states. These writers inspired Lincoln's later declaration that "no state may lawfully get out of the Union by its own mere motion", based on the premise that "the Union is older than the Constitution."

Modern legal scholars, however concur with Madison's initial claims that the states ratified the Constitution acting in the capacity of sovereign nations.

top of page


 

 

Special thanks to...

 

Joseph Veilleux for his kind permission allowing us to use of his county graphics. 

NEW ENGLAND INFO
A New England Directory

 

Copyright © 1996 New England Info, All rights Reserved. Vail Associates

All cities, towns and villages links provided by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


The Patriots for Liberty banner
 
The Patriots for Liberty banner was inspired by the Sons of Liberty Flag.  The history of this flag began in about 1765, when protests of the duties and taxes and stamps required by Parliament began in the colonies. Liberty trees and liberty poles were erected.  After a particular protest of the Stamp Act was held under a particular Elm tree in Boston, known thereafter as "the Liberty Tree," a group known as the Sons of Liberty was formed.  The Sons of Liberty met under this tree.  Later, the British cut the tree down, and the Sons replaced it with a Liberty pole. Their flag of nine alternating red and white vertical stripes was flown from this pole. The Sons of Liberty used a flag originally of 9 vertical stripes to represent the unity of the New England colonies.  Later this flag was modified to 13 horizontal stripes to represent the unity of all the Colonies.  Its red and white colors derived from the British merchant ensign.  Indeed, this flag was used as a United States merchant ensign in the period from  c.1776-c.1800. 
 
The fourteen horizontal stripes of our banner represent each county in the Commwealth of Massachusetts.  In the center is a representation of the right arm of Captain Myles Standish  in the military uniform of the period, blue sleeve with lace ruff, the hand grasping a broad sword with gold handle and steel blade.  It also adorns the coat of arms of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
 

 

liberty
From Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
 
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French liberté, from Latin libertat-, libertas, from liber free -- more at LIBERAL
1 : the quality or state of being free: a : the power to do as one pleases b : freedom from physical restraint c : freedom from arbitrary or despotic control d : the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges e : the power of choice
2 a : a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant : PRIVILEGE b : permission especially to go freely within specified limits.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary copyright © 2005 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated



 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Patriots for Liberty.com is protected speech pursuant to the "unalienable rights" of all men pronounced in the Declaration of Independence, and the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

             By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.