Meaning of "State"

Dear SHNV Friends

The meaning of "State" as in the “State of Virginia” has changed and become degraded. States today enjoy less authority than did counties 150 years ago. In the Declaration of Independence England is properly and
formally called the "State of Great Britain." The "Colonies" legally became "Free and Independent States." The word “State” was used in designating a sovereign “Country.” The Declaration says that from this time forth each individual "State (Country)" now had "full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States (Countries) may of right do."

Peace with England at the end of the American Revolution did not create the United States of America as we hear in so much of the bogus celebration on the “July the 4th” holiday, but rather RESULTED in the
recognition of the formation of 15 new full-fledged individual Countries. This remained essentially so until 1865 when that union of Countries associated in a "Confederation" or mutual "pact" of united States ended, and one bloodied nation emerged under one central totalitarian authority that replaced the previously free "Republic’s"
governmental structure. For the first time the union of "Republic’s" was in form and function dissolved and was replaced by a newly centralized "Nation." Until this time the people’s of the various States considered their individual "State" as their "Country." People thought of themselves as Virginians, Carolinians, Marylanders, etc., but now the USA was to become a melting pot where all people would be the same.

Many misguided court historians and reconstructed Southerner’s discuss the history of the Southern States as though the Confederate States of America were a "Nation." This mistake early-on lends itself to much premature discussion of restoring the previous States of the Confederate States of America into a "restoration" that resembles, looks and sounds more like the centralized nature of the current United States of America rather than the confederated States of the Confederate States of America. This is heard and promoted among organizations that pride themselves in being dedicated to the “restoration of the government of the Confederate States of America.” This sounds good and appeals to the sentiments of most of us; however to some measure the CSA were formed as the result of a threat of war from the USA invasion of the seceded Southern States.  Each State voted separately to secede and then individually voted to join the Confederate States of America. There was no coercion on the part of the CSA to force a seceded State to join the CSA.

While such a confederation could and likely would eventually result if the States of the USA could regain sovereignty and independence, the first steps would be to build and restore individual State sovereignty
and independence in practice and to be able to do this hopefully without the imminent threat of war forcing a premature union as occurred in the original union of the colonies to form the USA. A threat of war can make
very uncomely political partners and alliances that soon outlive their usefulness. Large political entities rarely surrender any level of power willingly. High levels of government tend to perpetuate themselves and
strive for more control, more power and more resources.

Unfortunately what history has shown is that the union which so quickly followed independence from England was seriously flawed for a variety of reasons. Several of the Founder’s and Statesmen of the period sounded
warnings about what could happen, and indeed did happen decades later.  It is this ill-advised union that for decades following 1865 left a bitter taste in the mouths of Mississippians and other Southerners.

The original July the 4th celebrations marked the independence of the several separate and independent States as fully-fledged independent and separate "Countries." A proper historical understanding of the July the
4th celebrations should be a focus on the end of the War with England (which would likely make today’s English people very uncomfortable) and the establishment of each State as free and independent "Countries"
(which would make most supra-nationalistic peoples of the USA including reconstructed Southerner’s) MOST uncomfortable.

Our first job needs to be to restore both freedom and liberty in our communities by restoring independence, as far as possible, and by restoring a sense of local moral and ethical responsibility and
self-rule to our i-n-d-i-v-i-d-u-a-l States. This cannot and should not be forced on the States. Some States will make more progress in this more quickly than other States. To force a union of Confederate States
now would be as much a violation of our human rights, freedoms and liberty as was the forced union under Abraham Lincoln during the 1860’s; of course, we can work and campaign in that direction omitting the
factor of a USA styled coercion, but it may be wise to keep in mind that we now have 35 States each individually larger than the total population of the colonies when the USA was first formed.

As painful as it may seem some States’ political communities may be too far deteriorated to soon live again as a free people, because of their spiritual apostasy from their Christian beliefs and trust in God that
would motivate them to live moral lives. The U.S. form of government as it came from the minds and hearts of our Founder’s was designed for “a righteous” people who were committed to doing God’s will and not to some
form of a “new experiment” in democracy with its endlessly changing momentary goals of social engineering and lateral personal equality.

While there was an immense and situational loss of freedom and liberty over which the Southern States were unable to prevent, all the States both in the north and in the South loss their individual State’s
sovereignty and independence. It is amazing that any new territory would want to enter the union and become a part of the USA following the brutal invasion of the sovereign States of the CSA.

Government "by the consent of the government" ended in all the member States of the USA and the CSA. Following this came the long and continuing de(not re)construction of how we think and live. It will take
time and a spiritual revival for States to regain the ability to think and function once again as free and independent, but we must recognize that the congregate communities of many States have lost their will and
desire for righteousness and thus their personal commitment to Biblical morality. Such people are not capable of responsible self-rule.

Immoral egalitarianism/socialism with its ever-immoral and agnostic world views has a stranglehold on much of the USA and the world at this time. The road back to a classical view of a free self-government,
liberty and freedom will have to be restored and prove itself on local levels and likely first in small polities.
—
Timothy D. Manning, M.Div
Executive Director
www.TheSouthernPartisan.com
160 Longbridge Drive
Kernersville, North Carolina 27284
Phone: (336) 420-5355
Email: tim@thesouthernpartisan.com