Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

What Would Patrick Henry Say Today?

What Would Patrick Henry Say Today?

An engraving from a painting of Patrick Henry delivering an address before the Virginia Assembly. From the New York Public Library.

Getty Images, Smith Collection/Gado

In Federalist 10, explaining some of the protections of the new Constitution in 1787, James Madison observed that, “Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm….” The Founders defined tyranny as the legislative, executive, and judicial powers all being combined in the hands of a single individual or small group of people. So, they divided these three powers into separate and independent branches of the government that checked and balanced each other, preventing this accumulation of power. If, however, the people elected an authoritarian president and a legislature of toadies, who allowed this president to install a compliant judiciary, this protection could be lost. Hence, when asked shortly after the Constitutional Convention concluded in 1787 what the delegates had created, Benjamin Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Echoing Madison, the Supreme Court in 1866, in Ex Parte Milligan, 71 U.S. 2 (1866), wrote, “Wicked men, ambitious of power, with hatred of liberty and contempt of law, may fill the place once occupied by Washington and Lincoln” as they overturned Lambden Milligan’s conviction before a military commission under martial law in Indiana during the Civil War. Milligan was charged with aiding a secret society that gave material support to the rebellion, conspiring to free Confederate prisoners, and conspiring to raid northern arsenals to come to the aid of the South. The Court’s five-member majority ruled that martial law could not be imposed in states where the civilian courts were open and functioning. Four members of the Court disagreed because state courts could be open and functioning but be in the hands of rebels. Martial law may again be tested, but more fundamental questions are how to prevent the rise of a tyrant in the first place and what remedies are available should the voters elect one.


Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Ignorance and superstition are fertile grounds for the rise of a dictator. The dictator will promise to bring it all under control. He/she will pander to the nation’s less-thinking and vicious actors. With their aid, he/she can become president, the legislature can be populated with toadies, and the courts packed with loyalists or otherwise deprived of their power. Independent media and press are gradually eliminated as only state-approved podcasts and other media are allowed to cover the executive and his subservient Congress and judges. Opposition leaders and parties are prevented from participation in rigged elections that maintain a democratic façade as in Russia. Loyal military leaders are installed. Public and private institutions are forced to toe the line and fire employees who dissent. The dictator may seek new territory for the nation.

A citizenry educated in American history and civics is essential. If citizens do not understand how the American government was designed to work and how they can control it, they will not trust it and will or may seek to overturn it. Citizens and leaders must understand that once the courts have finally adjudicated a matter, such as that an election was not stolen, that is to be the end of the matter.

John A. Ragosta’s recent book, For the People. For the Country: Patrick Henry’s Final Political Battle, describes how the elderly, retired, and frail Patrick Henry, who had initially opposed the new Constitution without amendments, answered George Washington’s call in 1799 to reenter politics to oppose Thomas Jefferson’s Kentucky and Madison’s Virginia Resolutions. These Resolutions essentially called on states to nullify federal law, specifically the Alien and Sedition Acts, which outlawed criticizing Congress and President John Adams. Washington saw the Resolutions as threatening to destroy the nation.

In his last speech, Henry declared that overturning the government was justified only when oppression was intolerable and could not be otherwise addressed. He noted that our system allowed for offensive laws to be otherwise addressed in that they could be repealed or changed by the people’s elected representatives. He contrasted it with taxation without representation in Parliament and the ignored petitions to the King that had left the colonials with no means to otherwise address British oppression.

Patrick Henry would observe today that our system still provides a means for perceived oppression to be otherwise addressed. Should people complain that the period between a presidential election and the inauguration is too short for the court’s consideration of an election contest, there are ways to lengthen that period by a constitutional amendment to move the inauguration date or by legislation changing the date for the presidential election. Even where a “wicked man” is elected to the presidency, along with a legislature of toadies, the people can change that legislature in two years, potentially enabling impeachment, change the legislature and president in four years, and exercise First Amendment and other Constitutional protections. People can also seek protection in the courts.

Henry would presumably say today that as long as these remedies are available, they must be used. If a tyrant refused to abide by or effectively or outright terminated these interdependent rights and remedies, Henry would again declare, “give me liberty or give me death.”

Daniel O. Jamison is a retired attorney.

Read More

The Department of Education must stay: Knowledge is for all

A teacher helping students with schoolwork.

Getty Images, LWA/Dann Tardif

The Department of Education must stay: Knowledge is for all

The U.S. Congress recently confirmed Linda McMahon as Secretary of the Department of Education (DOE), on the same day that teacher unions across the country initiated “clap ins” at the start of the school day to applaud students and protest budget cuts President Donald Trump has made to the DOE.

With more than $1 billion in cuts of contracts, layoffs, and recent offers to pay DOE employees approximately $25,000 to quit, the efforts to dismantle the department, which sets policies, manages programs, and coordinates federal assistance for schooling is devastating.

Keep ReadingShow less
American Democracy Has Been Caught in the Partisan Crossfire

Red and blue strings knotted up.

Getty Images, MirageC

American Democracy Has Been Caught in the Partisan Crossfire

As democracy advocates and concerned citizens resist the erosion of norms and institutions during a second Trump administration, we must remember that our democracy is already in a state of crisis! This crisis has seen our Freedom House rating drop more than 10 points in the last decade. According to this measure of political rights and civil liberties, our peers were once countries like France and Germany, but now we find ourselves ranked just below Argentina and Mongolia.

Mass Partisanship and Elite Power-Seeking: A Dangerous Combination

Keep ReadingShow less
Just the Facts: Ukraine-Russia Ceasefire

Ukraine map and Russian and Ukrainian flags

Getty Images/chibosaigon

Just the Facts: Ukraine-Russia Ceasefire

The Fulcrum strives to approach news stories with an open mind and skepticism, striving to present our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.


What is the status of the March 11, 2025 Ukraine-Russia ceasefire proposal?

As of March 11, 2025, Ukraine has officially accepted a U.S.-proposed, immediate 30-day ceasefire in its conflict with Russia, contingent upon Russia's reciprocal agreement. The United States has lifted previous restrictions on military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine that were imposed eight days ago.

Keep ReadingShow less
Understanding the 2024 Election: A Call to Action for Inclusive Democracy
Charles F. Kettering Foundation

Understanding the 2024 Election: A Call to Action for Inclusive Democracy

As a Black American woman and an educator, I am compelled to examine the forces that led to Donald Trump’s 2024 victory and its impact on our increasingly multiracial democracy. Democracy—derived from the Greek word demokratia, meaning “rule by the people”—is now under attack. With a deep sense of historical awareness, moral clarity, and an unwavering commitment to justice, I must underscore that democracy, as we have long understood it, is not just a system of governance. Democracy is a promise: a promise that every voice matters, that justice is not reserved for the “few” or the privileged, and that freedom is not a selective right. In this moment, the promise is being rewritten and redefined in ways that exclude rather than include and that silence rather than empower.

Attacks on Diversity and Inclusion

Keep ReadingShow less