28 Principles that Make the
United States of America Possible
[taken from The 5000 Year Leap, by W. Cleon Skousen]
- The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is natural law. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 1.)
- A free people cannot survive under a Republican Constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 2.)
- The most promising method of securing a virtuous and morally stable people is to elect virtuous leaders. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 3.)
- Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 4.)
- All things were created by God. Therefore upon him all mankind are equally dependent, and to him they are equally responsible. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 5.)
- All men are created equal. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 6.)
- The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 7.)
- Men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 8.)
- To protect Man's rights, God has revealed certain principles of Divine law. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 9.)
- The God given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 10.)
- The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 11.)
- The United States shall be a Republic. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 12.
- A Constitution should be structured to permanently protect the people from the human frailties of their rulers. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 13.)
- Life and liberty are secure only so long as the right of property is secure. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 14.)
- The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free market economy and a minimum of government regulations. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 15.)
- The government should be separated into three branches, Legislative, Executive and Judicial. (Read John's Essay on Principle 16.)
- A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power. (Read John’s Essay on Principle 17.)
- The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written Constitution.
- Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained in the people.
- Efficiency and dispatch require government to operate according to the will of the majority, but most Constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.
- Strong, local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.
- A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.
- A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education.
- A free people will not survive unless they stay strong.
- Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations—entangling alliances with none.
- The core unit, which determines the strength of any society, is the family, therefore, the government should foster and protect its integrity.
- The burden of debt is as destructive to freedom as subjugation by conquest.
- The United States has a manifest destiny to be an example and a blessing to the entire human race.
