The Declaration of Independence is often misunderstood, which I wrote about here. One of the most important, yet overlooked, sections of the document is the list of indictments against King George III. The indictments are further evidence that the Declaration was never meant to be a revolutionary statement. From the Magna Carta to the colonial constitutions, George III was indicted for violating existing laws. Jefferson listed a total of 27 indictments against the King. Throughout February, we’re going to look at one indictment a day, why it was levied, and why it is still relevant.
Indictment #22 reads as follows:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever
Why was the indictment levied: The royal government dissolved several of the colonial legislatures and gave legislative powers to the governors. The New York legislature was suspended in 1767 in response to the Quartering Act. In 1775, Lord Dunmore dissolved the assemblies of Virginia. Sir James Wright did the same to Georgia, as well as Lord William Campbell in South Carolina.
With the essential abolition of the legislature, the royal governors could now act as absolute monarchs in the colonies.
Why is this important today: Attempts to remove legislation power from the people frequently occur today. But we don’t need a foreign power to dissolve our legislatures, Congress does that themselves.
It’s no secret that the executive branch of our government has expanded far beyond what the founders envisioned. We do not have a president of a federal republic; we have a king. But the president is not solely responsible for this. Congress frequently abdicates their responsibility.
Budgets are supposed to originate in Congress, but today they come from the president. There was no budget passed for Barack Obama’s entire first term. The president now tells Congress what bills they should pass. This is completely backwards. It is the Congress’ responsibility to submit a budget. The president has veto power, but they do not write the bills.
Laws are supposed to come from Congress, not czars. The name “czar” is not a slur, Franklin Roosevelt actually used this term for the heads of his agencies. Today, we have drug czars, housing czars, environment czars, transportation czars, you name it, there’s probably an unelected federal agency for it. Congress can write laws for drug enforcement, clean air or affordable housing. But they don’t. They leave this to agencies that exist outside of constitutional government.
We do have problems with the executive and judicial branches of government overstepping their boundaries, but Congress should share the blame. They “suspend our own legislatures” by avoiding their constitutional duties and invest the “power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever” to others.