Principles of Liberty

The following principles have been discovered using over 150 volumes of the Founding Father's original writings, minutes, letters, biographies and other primary documents distilled into the "The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies in 1981. These are the principles of liberty that shaped and formed our unique republic. For a more through discussion of these principles check out the following blog: http://912projectbookreports.blogspot.com/

1. The only reliable basis for sound gonverment and just human relations is Natural Law.
2. A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.
3. The most promising method of securing a virtuous and morally stable people is to elect virtuous leaders.
4. Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.
5. All things were created by God, therefore upon Him all mankind are equally dependent, and to him they are equally responsible.
6. All men are created equal.
7. The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.
8. Men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.
9. To protect man's rights, God had revealed certain principles of divine law.
10. The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority to the whole people.
11. The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which as become tyrannical.
12. The United States of America shall be a republic.
13. A constitution should be structured to permanently protect the people from the human frailties of their rulers.
14. Life and liberty are secure only so long as the right of property is secure.
15. The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free market economy and a minimum of government regulations.
16. The government should be separated into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial.
17. A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power.
18. The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written constitution.
19. Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained by the people.
20. Efficiency and dispatch require government to operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.
21. Strong local government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.
22. A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.
23. A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education.
24. A free people cannot survive unless they stay strong.
25. "Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations: entangling alliances with none."
26. The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore, the government should foster and protect its integrity.
27. The burden of debt is as destructive to freedom as subjugation by conquest.
28. The United States has a manifest destiny to be an example and blessing to the entire human race.