Jeff Davis
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Jeff Davis is a retired radio-TV journalist living in Gainesville, GA. Active in
civic and political affairs, he is past president of the Georgia Jaycees and former campaign chairman of the Georgia
Republican party. He volunteers as chairman of the Georgia Heritage Council.
He is a collateral descendant of President Jefferson Davis and a member of SCV Camp 1404 in Gainesville and National
Chairman of Public Relations and Media for SCV.
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The Pendulum Swings, Deo Vindice
Commentary by J. A. Davis, 3/26/2010
"Secession belongs to a different class of remedies. It is to be justified upon the basis that the States are Sovereign. There was a time when
none denied it. I hope the time may come again, when a better comprehension of the theory of our Government, and the inalienable rights of the
people of the States, will prevent any one from denying that each State is a Sovereign, and thus may reclaim the grants which it has made
to any agent whomsoever."
--Jefferson Davis
With the advent of the recent government take over of health care in America, just one more event in a long train of D.C. abuses, there has been a noticeable
swing in the pendulum of public opinion and political thought. Witness the phenomenal growth in
Tenth Amendment discussions in the last few years.
Not yet an overpowering revolt, but definitely a trend in the direction of some citizens finally becoming aware of something---something that students of
true constitutional history have known and articulated to the best of our ability for years.
We have been scorned as purely regional Southerners who have jaundiced views of the history of America. It has become popular for some to dismiss our
knowledge and portrayal of the basis for our Republic by the most outstanding creators of a governmental philosophy such as Jefferson,
Madison and Calhoun.
"The Government of the absolute majority instead of the Government of the people is but the Government of the strongest interests; and when not
efficiently checked, it is the most tyrannical and oppressive that can be devised."
--John C. Calhoun
"It is not by the consolidation or concentration of powers but by their distribution that good government is effected."
--Thomas Jefferson
"An elective despotism was not the government we fought for; but one in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among the several
bodies of magistracy as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others."
--James Madison, from Federalist #48
We have further pointed out that most of the criticism of the Founding Principles
of these United States (note 'these' and not 'the') has come from followers
of all powerful central government with empirical powers over all of our people. Much of this originated with Alexander Hamilton and gained greater
following as Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln and the Radical Republicans following the War Between the States exacted their punishment on the people of the
South which now has boomeranged and appears to be the hinge to lock the door of liberty for all Americans, wherever they live.
It is interesting to see some of the current day thinkers begin to examine or re-examine the tenants of The
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1798), early in
the history of the voluntary union. In any substantial study they find that the states and the people did reserve certain rights of nullification and they
were effective. They were prepared under extreme circumstances, such as tariffs designed to favor one class or area over another, to exercise these
rights the Founders clearly intended and articulated in the
Federalist Papers. Included was and is the right of
nullification of tyrannical acts by a
central national government against the will of the people (consent of the governed) and peaceful secession when all else failed.
Having these powers caused numerous disputes to be settled peacefully in the early days of the voluntary union. This includes the little mentioned and
often historically ignored threats of nullification and secession on three separate occasions by New York and the New England states. Worse, how many
Americans today know that these states in large measure, but not wholly, through their own acts of nullification, refused to participate in the War of
1812 [ Hartford Convention ]. Some of their citizens actually served with
the British army while others gave aid and comfort to the enemy. Sort of makes you think about all of this 'traitor' rhetoric some folks like to throw around.
Some of Madison's harshest critics (while he was President) were New England Federalists who sided with the British as they sacked and burned Washington, D.C.
Yet, in current parlance it is Southerners who are called all sorts of ugly names, like traitors. The pendulum of truth is beginning to swing. More
than a few previous critics of Southerners and the Confederacy are beginning to delve into the history they need to look for and are arriving at new
found visions of what Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison and Mr. Calhoun were saying about an all-powerful national government taking total dictatorial control
of the nation and the people.
It's an admirable trait for someone who has been wrong for so long to say so and extend a hand of unity in the name of liberty.
It is happening in their very presence. The states in all areas are once again beginning to file notices of of nullification. Other states are passing
legislation emphasizing their own right to protect their people from unconscionable national laws, loss of their individual liberty and onerous taxation
for some that excludes others who are supportive of the class usurpation taking place.
Georgia Senate Resolution 632
Georgia House Resolution 470 - States' sovereignty
Georgia House Resolution 280
Who's Afraid of 'Interposition'? - William Norman Grigg, 2/24/10
Our Goal is Federalism, not “States’ Rights” - Gary Wood, TAC, 3/3/10
Sound familiar? History does have a way of repeating. Suddenly we find people looking Southward and carefully observing maybe the Confederacy wasn't
what we've been told. Maybe it wasn't all about slavery any more than than any other state in the union including the states the Grand Army of the
Republic claimed of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia and the capitol city of the Union, the District of Columbia, none of which
completely abolished slavery until the rest of the nation, including the Confederate states, did so with the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment.
Another historical awakening seems to be taking place as well. Some of the outspoken critics of the South have been exposed to what was supposed to
have been the original Thirteenth Amendment, known as the Corwin Amendment.
It overwhelmingly passed both houses of Congress, had the endorsement of
President Lincoln and was on the way to adoption by the states when Fort Sumter took place. What was it? It guaranteed slavery where it existed in
the United States in perpetuity.
For all the trash that has been heaped on the soldiers of the Confederacy and for the insults we, their descendants are subjected to, it is time to
recognize how prophetic our ancestors were when they adopted the Great Seal of the Confederacy and the motto, Deo Vindice, God will vindicate.
How prophetic was President Jefferson Davis when he discussed the very real issues of the secession will re-assert themselves, at another time?
Any fair minded person has to say, they are asserting themselves and the time is now.
God works in mysterious ways. What a blessing He could give us if all of the
people could arise from their negligent ignorance that has prevailed for far too long to join together to restore the liberty of God's blessing
declared in 1776.
Then maybe a re-invigorated Republic could all join together, North, South, East and West in saying together, Deo Vindice.
"The contest is not over, the strife is not ended. It has only entered upon a new and enlarged arena."
-- Jefferson Davis
"The principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it may be at another time and in another form."
-- Jefferson Davis
Jeff Davis is a retired radio-TV journalist living in Gainesville, GA. Active in
civic and political affairs, he is past president of the Georgia Jaycees and former campaign chairman of the Georgia
Republican party. He volunteers as chairman of the Georgia Heritage Council.
He is a collateral descendant of President Jefferson Davis and a member of SCV Camp 1404 in Gainesville and National
Chairman of Public Relations and Media for SCV.
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