โWhat has destroyed the liberty and the rights of man in every government which has ever existed under the sun?ย
Thomas Jefferson answered his own rhetorical question with a warning that Americans have ignored for far too long.
โThe generalizing and concentrating all cares and powers into one body.โ
Or as Patrick Henry called it, โconsolidationโ โ the centralization of power in a single government, like the one weโve had in Washington, D.C. for so long.
Henry warned that consolidation โmust end in the destruction of our liberties.โ
Note that he used the word โmust.โ Henry didnโt consider the loss of liberty under a consolidated government a mere possibility. He said it was the inevitable outcome.
This was the dominant view during the founding. Supporters and opponents of the Constitution alike warned against consolidation.
William Davie insisted, โSo extensive a country as this can never be managed by one consolidated government.โ
So, what did the people do in the years since?
They tolerated and even encouraged consolidation. As a result, we live under the biggest government in history – a textbook example of a consolidated government the founders warned us about.
The path to liberty, as they told us over and over, runs through decentralization. We need to devolve power away from Washington, D.C., and back into the hands of the states and the people where it belongs.
Thatโs what the Tenth Amendment is all about. And here at the TAC, we work toward decentralization every day – through both education and on-the-ground activism. But we canโt take on the biggest government in history without your help.
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Understanding what they sacrificed in their long, bloody war to secede from the British, William Grayson expressed the prevailing sentiment of the day.
โThe idea of consolidation is abhorrent to the people of this country.โ
During the ratification debates, Patrick Henry warned against repeating that same kind of tyranny, โdangers are to be apprehended in whatever manner we proceed.โ But he put the danger of โconsolidationโ at the top of the list, calling it โthe most destructive.โ
Samuel Adams agreed – with a warning that a consolidated system will give us tyranny.
Guaranteed.
โThe People of the United States under one consolidated government cannot long remain free, or indeed under any kind of government but a despotism.โ
Now is the time to take action. The federal government isnโt going to wake up one day and decide to GIVE back some of its power. โWe the Peopleโ have to take it.
The road is going to be long and difficult, but with your help, weโll continue to build a strong foundation for the constitution and liberty – today, and in the years to come.
- Usurpation: Weapon to Destroy Freedom - January 25, 2026
- Parchment barriers don’t stop tyranny - January 6, 2026
- Living Under the Consolidation the Founders Warned About - December 19, 2025