CONstitutional Treason

Colonial America and Central Banking (proof of the CONstitutional Fraud)

Background

In the mid-1700s the American Colonies were prospering, in part because they were issuing their own money called "Colonial Scrip," which was strictly regulated and did not require the payment of any interest. When the bankers in Great Britain heard this, they turned to the British Parliament, which passed a law prohibiting the Colonial Scrip, forcing the colonists to accept the "debt" or "fiat" money* issued by the Bank of England. Contrary to what history teaches, the American Revolution was not ignited by a tax on tea. According to Benjamin Franklin, it was because "the conditions [became] so reversed that the era of prosperity ended." He said:

"The Colonies would gladly have borne the little tax on tea and other matters had it not been the poverty caused by the bad influence of the English bankers on the Parliament, which has caused in the Colonies hatred of England and the Revolutionary War."

First Bank of the United States

The First Bank of the United States, a private institution, was chartered by the Bank of England in 1791 and operated for 20 years as the government’s fiscal agent and depository of funds. Two thirds of the bank was owned by British interests. Political pressure by the Democratic-Republicans prevented re-chartering in 1811. However, the problems involved with waging war against Britain in 1812 pointed to the need for a central fiscal agent and sentiment for the BUS reemerged following the conflict.

Second Bank of the United States

In 1816, during the administration of President James Madison, the Democratic-Republicans reversed course and supported the creation of a Second Bank of the United States. It was patterned after the first and quickly established branches throughout the Union. The Second BUS's initial years were difficult and are largely remembered for its fraud and corruption. The Second BUS became a political issue again under President James Monroe, during the economic downturn accompanying the Panic of 1819.

Many local state-chartered banks, eager to follow speculative policies, resented the cautious fiscal policy of the Second BUS and looked to state legislatures to restrict its operations. Critics again decried the bank’s mismanagement and conservative policies, and several states enacted legislation to restrict its activities by levying special taxes against it. The state of Maryland imposed a tax on the bank's operations, and when James McCulloch, the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the Second BUS, refused to pay the taxes, the issue quickly rose to the Supreme Court. In many ways, the opinion in that case represents a final step in the creation of the American federal government.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

The issue involved, the power of Congress to charter a bank, seems insignificant, but the larger questions go to the very heart of constitutional interpretation, and are still debated today.

In 1791, as part of his financial plan, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton proposed that Congress charter a Bank of the United States, to serve as a central bank for the country. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson opposed the notion on the grounds that the Constitution did not specifically give Congress such a power, and that under a limited government, Congress had no powers other than those explicitly given to it.  (Jefferson was absolutely correct.) 

Hamilton responded by arguing that Congress had all powers except those specifically denied to it in the Constitution, and that the "necessary and proper" clause of Article I invited a broad reading of the designated powers. President George Washington backed Hamilton, and the First Bank of the United States was given a 20-year charter. The charter expired in 1811.   (The argument by Hamilton is completely the opposite as to the real authority of the CONstitution.  (If the CONstitution does not DIRECTLY authorize the government to act, THEY CAN’T!!) (Hamilton and Washington committed TREASON!)

In the case of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the state of Maryland argued that the federal government did not have the authority to establish a bank, because that power was not delegated to them in the Constitution.  (A correct argument!) Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the unanimous decision (A Void Judgment) for the court that declared the tax imposed by the state of Maryland against the Second BUS was unconstitutional. To paraphrase Marshall, he conceded that the Constitution does not explicitly grant Congress the right to establish a national bank, but noted that the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to do that which is required to exercise its enumerated powers. Thus, the court affirmed the existence of implied powers.   (Implied powers is unconstitutional and TREASON)

On the issue of the authority of Maryland to tax the national bank, the court also ruled in the bank's favor. The court found that "the power to tax involves the power to destroy. If the states may tax one instrument (of the federal government), they may tax any and every other instrument, the mail, the mint, patent rights, judicial process. This was not intended by the American people. They did not construct the constitutional framework to make their federal government dependent upon the States."  (The imposition of “law” on the Sovereign states is TREASON!) 

Furthermore, he said, "The Constitution and the laws made in pursuance thereof are supreme; they control the Constitution and laws of the respective states and cannot be controlled by them."   (Not True!)

The 1819 Supreme Court ruling did not settle the greater issue. The Second BUS was still controlled by the Bank of England and foreign investors, who not only profited greatly by charging interest for the use of their paper American currency, but England still resented American independence. The Second BUS policies were too restrictive for the needs of the burgeoning nation. In an effort to break up the Second BUS, President Andrew Jackson in 1833 made federal deposits in 23 of the state banks, referred to at the time as "pet banks."  (Jackson killed the Second Bank of the United States, a gross misnomer, the central banks were not of the United States.  The government is not “the United States”, which should read “States United” or the “Confederation of States!”)

Senator John Tyler also was opposed to the Second BUS, but he perceived Jackson's action as a terrible abuse of executive power and a violation of states' rights. He condemned Jackson on the Senate floor. Senator Henry Clay followed by urging the Senate to censure Jackson for his actions.   (Jackson, not Washington, was the greatest president ever!!)

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a central bank was constitutional, but it is important to keep in mind that, prior to the Civil War, it was not at all universally agreed that the federal government itself should be the arbiter of the limits of its own powers. That is, Supreme Court decisions were viewed by many, including President Jackson, as mere opinions and not Holy Writ, as they are today.   (Treason)

John Tyler assumed the presidency following President William Henry Harrison's sudden death in 1841. Soon after Tyler took office, Congress passed a bill to reestablish the bank. Tyler vetoed it and also a second such bill, calling them unconstitutional and against states' rights. Clay and his allies were angry. All but one member of Tyler's Cabinet resigned in support of Clay. The Whigs severed ties with Tyler, officially expelling him from the party. Tensions were still high when on August 16, 1841, President Tyler vetoed a bill that called for the re-establishment of the Second BUS. That sparked a massive riot outside the White House by enraged Whig Party members.  (Tyler wasn’t bad himself.)

The demise of the Second BUS led to an alternative known as the Independent Treasury System, which was put into place in 1840, ended by the Whigs in 1841, resurrected in 1846, and ended finally during the Lincoln administration. Abraham Lincoln, a longtime Whig, but elected president in 1860 on the Republican ticket, was a longtime supporter of a national bank and protectionism.

As soon as Lincoln took office, the old Whig coalition finally controlled the entire government. It immediately tripled the average tariff, began to subsidize the construction of a transcontinental railroad in California even though a desperate war was being waged, and on February 25, 1862, the Legal Tender Act empowered the secretary of the treasury to issue paper money ("greenbacks") that were not immediately redeemable in gold or silver.

The Republican Party establishment, led by Lincoln, was very clear on what it hoped to achieve with a central bank. Senator John Sherman, brother of General William T. Sherman and chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, declared,

"Nationalize as much as possible, even the currency, so as to make men love their country before their states. All private interests, all local interests, all banking interests, the interests of individuals, everything, should be subordinate now to the interest of the government."  (Treason!)

Kentucky Democrat Lasarus Powell was not as enthusiastic.

"The result of this legislation," he said, "is utterly to destroy the rights of the states. It is asserting a power which if carried out to its logical result would enable the national Congress to destroy every institution of the States and cause all power to be consolidated and concentrated here in Washington, D.C.]."

Conclusion

States' rights are still debated today.  (States Rights have been Non-Existence since 1791!!)  It is however, doubtful that America as we know it today would even exist were it not for the wisdom of John Marshall and Abraham Lincoln. The formation of the modern American government congealed in the Lincoln Administration. A central banking system is central to American growth and independence. This became most evident during economic downturns and wars during the 18th and 19th centuries. America's modern central banking scheme, the Federal Reserve System was created by congress in 1913.

The capstone of the creation of the American government was placed when the Supreme Court noted that:

·  The "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to do that which is required to exercise its enumerated powers in the case of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819). Thus, the court affirmed the existence of implied powers.

·  The Constitution and the laws made by the federal government are supreme. The federal government controls the states and cannot be controlled by them.

*Debt or Fiat Money: The Bank of England charged interest to use its paper currency (which cost next to nothing to produce; i.e. the paper had no value in and of itself), as if were a loan.