The Law of Nations, which governs how one nation relates to another, was so much a part of our founding culture that the framers of the Constitution only referenced it once in the Constitution, in which it states: “To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas and offences against the Law of Nations.”[1] Although, only referenced once in the Constitution it was referenced thirteen times, according to Madison’s notes, by Constitutional Convention delegates during the Constitutional Convention and Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story in his Commentaries on the Constitution referenced it numerous times when expounding on Constitutional clauses dealing with foreign policy. Additionally, one can also see evidence of the Law of Nations articulated in George Washington’s farewell address, the Monroe Doctrine, in every President’s Congressional request for a declaration of war until the Civil War, and in other writings of our founders. The absence of a declaratory statement identifying the Law of Nations as the foundation of American foreign policy should not be taken to mean that its tenants are any less binding today. Just like English Common Law was the foundation upon which the Constitution was written, so too is the Law of Nations the foundation upon which the framers defined the foreign policy powers delegated to our national government from the people.
Search Results for: Law of Nations
Is Religion the Foundation of Justice and Law?
Atheists in America complain that having the Ten Commandments as the foundation of American law is an imposition of religion upon them. However, religion, justice and law are inseparably linked, because justice and law are always based on religion. The logic connecting these concepts is found in the dictionary definitions of each and the understanding of how societies form around common ideas.
The Death of a Nation
Unfortunately, too many people today do not understand the actual historical causes of the war that set brother against brother and State against State. It is unfortunate, because that war encompasses many fundamental causes of current American problems and without understanding its true cause we will be unable to repair what went wrong or prevent it from happening in the future.
Contents
Note: Some articles are in multiple Categories in the column to your right, but every article in the blog is listed and hyper linked under only one category below.
Amendments
Commentary
US Senate’s Brain Hemorrhaging Clout
Education Policy
Environmental Policy
Foreign Policy
The American Civil War, Just or Unjust?
Freedom
Freedom in America: Our Cultural Heritage
Freedom in America: The Unifying Idea
Freedom in America: Paradise Lost
Heritage
The Lost Eastern Christian Empire
Immigration and Naturalization Policy
Labor Policy
Union of Socialist Souls Revealed
Law
Can States Constitutionally Secede from the United States?
The Constitution of the United States
Impeaching Supreme Court Justices
Is Religion the Foundation of Justice and Law?
Is Roe v Wade the Law of the Land?
The Supreme Court in the Age of Relativism
When is the President the Commander in Chief?
Monetary Policy
National Defense Policy
Politics
Living in the Legacy of Lincoln
Restoring the Electoral College
Rights
Speeches
Butler Pennsylvania Second Amendment Rally Speech
Memorial Day Speech 2012 Westminster, MD
One Nation Back to God Speech 11 Aug 2012
Tax Policy
Constitutional Foreign Policy
Much of the world’s current instability in relation to the United States can be traced to a lack of a cohesive long term foreign policy and American interventionism. Although, America’s foreign policy changes with every incoming presidential administration in which each President decides, based on political expediency, in what countries he will interfere and what polices he will pursue, one thing remains constant from administration to administration, interventionism.
As a result of interventionism, neither America’s allies nor its enemies know what to expect out of America from one four year period to the next, except that America will interfere or not interfere with their sovereignty if it fits the political agenda of the elected President. Recent examples of this include involvement in the Contra War in the 1980s, the Kosovo War in the 1990s, and the Iraq War in the 2000s.
In addition to active involvement in the internal affairs of other governments, America’s foreign military bases, financial support for foreign governments, and membership in collective security agreements such as NATO, SEATO and the UN are symptomatic of our interventionist foreign policy.
What are Gay Rights?
By passing a majority opinion that married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits, the Supreme Court has once again stepped outside the realm of original intent in interpreting the Constitution. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community have always possessed the same rights as every citizen in the United States, hence there is no such thing as “gay rights”.
Living in the Legacy of Lincoln
Many Americans are waking up to the seemingly insurmountable problems caused by decades of failed policies and short term “fixes” to systemic issues by both political parties. Most Americans do not understand the root cause of many modern issues and consequently support polices that increase problems instead of resolving them. The key to understanding the root cause of most modern national issues is in understanding Lincoln’s political agenda and how he violated the Constitution to achieve it.
When is the President the Commander in Chief?
In the 20th century, America has been involved in 19 conflicts in which Congress has not declared war as the Constitution requires and service members have lost their lives in each of these 19 conflicts. The total number of service members who died as a result of these unconstitutional wars, which are conflicts not declared by the constitutionally predetermined authority, is less than 100,000. But even the loss of one life is a tragedy to the family of the killed service member and is completely illegal when the conflict was not approved by representatives of the people and the States.
The American Civil War, Just or Unjust?
Most modern Americans, who think about the nature of the American Civil War, consider the war to have been justly initiated against the South, because, as they most likely believe, it was a war perpetrated to end slavery. Yet even if Lincoln perpetrated the war to end slavery, the Civil War was neither civil nor just.
The Just War Doctrine, which western society has acknowledged for many centuries and to which the United States implicitly subscribed at its inception, is the only non-anachronistic standard by which modern American society can judge a western nineteenth century war to determine if it was justly commenced. One of the criterion of the Just War Doctrine is that a war can only be just, for the aggressor nation, if every other means to achieve a peaceful resolution has been earnestly attempted. Both Lincoln’s own words and his actions prove that he did not resort to war as a last resort. Another criterion of the Just War Doctrine is that an aggressor nation must have a just cause for war. While the abolition of slavery, under certain circumstances, could have been a just cause for war, Lincoln’s own words refute that he initiated the war for that purpose. The historical record shows that Lincoln, and the Northern States, did not use war as a last resort and that he did not have a just cause to go to war against the seceded Southern States, which makes the American Civil War both morally and legally unjust.
A Southern Abolitionist Plagiarizes Habakkuk
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see the iniquity of men in bondage,
and why do you idly look at the wrong of your people treating others so heartlessly?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.