“I say supreme absolute power is originally and ultimately in the people.โ
In Rights of the British Colonists Asserted and Proved, James Otis Jr. was describing โsovereignty.โ
Sovereignty simply means final andย absolute authority. Therefore, those who have it are not subject to any outside authority on Earth.
The Declaration of Independence was the ultimate expression of the sovereignty of the people. This is exactly what Thomas Jefferson was expressing when he wrote, โGovernments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.โ
The people have the ultimate authority. The government is an agent of the people. The sovereign people can therefore โalter or abolishโ the government as they see fit and institute a new government, โlaying 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.โ
This was in stark contrast to the British conception of sovereignty. They believed that the absolute and uncontrollable power resided in the government and ultimately, the king or parliament.
Thomas Paine contrasted these two opposing views in his Dissertations on Government, calling the British system a โdespotic monarchyโ where โpower is lodged in a single person, or sovereign.โ
This made the king the sole and final authority.
โHis will is law; which he declares, alters or revokes as he pleases, without being accountable to any power for so doing.โ
In contrast, Paine called the American system a republic, with โthe sovereign power, or the power over which there is no control, and which controls all others, remains where nature placed it-in the people; for the people in America are the fountain of power.โ
Far too many people today act as if we live under the British system. They have been propagandized by government schools with an incentive to make people think they donโt have any power.
Here at the Tenth Amendment Center, weโre committed to telling the truth about sovereignty and reversing this brainwashing. But we canโt do this work alone. We need your help!
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Years later, as the Constitution was being debated, James Wilson carried Otisโs idea forward, proclaiming, โThe supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable power REMAINS in the people.โ
In other words, it was always there, right from the start.
Ultimately, the people are the masters. Patrick Henry declared, โThe governing persons are the servants of the people.โ
No servant is greater than the master. That means the people are in charge. They have final authority. They just need to start using it in support of their own constitution and liberty.
- Freedom Isn’t Granted: It’s Exercised and Defended - February 18, 2026
- Who’s in Charge? The Founders on Sovereignty - February 4, 2026
- Usurpation: Weapon to Destroy Freedom - January 25, 2026