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majority but to the law; the Rule of Law. This is the essence of a Republic. John Adams explains:
The word democracy does not appear in our Declaration of Independence, nor in our [D]emocracy will soon
Constitution. The word democracy does not even appear in the language of the degenerate into an anarchy,
constitutions of the 50 states. The founders and framers did everything they could to keep such an anarchy that every
us from having a democracy. man will do what is right in
James Madison, rightly known as the father of our Constitution, wrote in Essay #10 of his own eyes and no man’s
the Federalist Papers, “…democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and life or property or reputation
or liberty will be secure, and
contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of every one of these will soon
property, and have in general been short in their lives as they have been violent in their mould itself into a system of
deaths.” subordination of all the
Alexander Hamilton agreed. He stated “We are a Republican Government, real liberty moral virtues and
is never found in despotism or in the extremes of democracy.” intellectual abilities, all the
Samuel Adams, a signer of our Declaration of Independence, stated “Democracy never powers of wealth, beauty,
wit, and science, to the
lasts long, it soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself.” wanton pleasures, the
The framers and founders looked upon democracy with contempt because they knew capricious will, and the
that the democracies in the early Greek city-states produced some of the wildest excesses execrable [abominable]
of government imaginable. In every case they ended up with mob rule, then anarchy, and cruelty of one or a very few.
finally tyranny under an oligarchy.
Rome followed a different path by establishing a Republic with a standard of laws. —The Papers of John Adams,
Robert J. Taylor, editor
These laws allowed Rome to prosper, become wealthy, and the envy of the world as (Cambridge: Belknap Press,
government left the people alone. In the midst of plenty, the people forgot what freedom 1977), Vol. I, p,.83, “An Essay
entailed; they forgot that the essence of freedom is the proper limitation of government. on Man’s Lust for Power, with
When governments power grows then the people’s freedom recedes. Once the Romans the Author’s Comment in
1807,” August 29, 1763,
dropped their guard, it was the power-seeking politicians that exceeded the powers granted
them in the Roman constitution. The people learned that they could elect politicians who
would use government to take property from some and give it to others. Agriculture
subsidies were introduced followed by housing and welfare programs; inevitably taxes rose
and controls over the private sector rose. So, the private sector could not make enough 5
profit to stay in business and they closed their businesses and went on the public dole.
Productivity declined, shortages developed and mobs began roaming the streets demanding
bread and entertainment from the government; and many were induced to trade their
freedom for security. Eventually the whole Roman system collapsed going from a
Republic, to a Democracy, ending up with an oligarchy under the progression of the
Caesar’s.
Thus, a democracy is not a stable form of government but a gradual
transition from limited government to the unlimited rule of the oligarchy with
a dictator.
So, which will you choose, a Republic or a Democracy ruled by an
Oligarchy? Think on these words from Benjamin Franklin: "Those who
would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve
neither Liberty nor Safety."

Sources of Law in the United States
Jewish Law. Law started when society started, but the deepest root of
our modern law is Jewish Law of roughly 1500 B.C. and thereafter. As was
the case with all legal systems to that time, Jewish Law was an inextricable
mixture of religious and secular law.
The basic law of the Jewish nation, its “constitution,” was the Torah, or
first five books of the Old Testament. The heart of the Torah was the Ten
Commandments. (Exodus, XX, 1-17.) Although some see these as religious
mandates, they are the basis of principles of secular law. “Thou shalt not
murder” recognizes the right of personal security. “Honor thy father and thy
mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery” seek to sanctify and
protect family institutions and domestic relations. “Thou shalt not steal” and
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; thou shalt not covet they
neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his
ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's” recognizes rights of private
ownership and the right to be secure therein; though the United States
Supreme court indicated in Kelo v. City of New London in June of 2005 that Moses with the tablets of law—Rembrandt

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