What is a "Jeffersonian" Democrat?

After having experienced many political organizations and philosophies, I have found a political label that fits like a glove and decided that I am a "Jeffersonian Democrat".

You might be thinking, that the most likely label for me would be a "Confederate", and I am, but as it turns out, most Confederates were "Jeffersonian Democrats" as well, as were the original founding fathers of this country.

I came to this conclusion while paying a visit to www.lewrockwell.com and stumbling upon columnist Charley Reese's article entitled: "Jefferson Davis", in which Reese asks:

"And what, you might well ask, is a Jeffersonian Democrat? He's a person who hasn't forgotten that the sovereign states created the federal government, not the reverse, as some today seem to assume. He believes that what the Constitution created was a republic of sovereign states, and that the carefully limited powers assigned to the federal government were all the powers it had, in peace or in war. He believes the Constitution is a binding contract, not a rubbery document that can mean anything a judge or a politician says it means. He believes in a system of checks and balances. In short, he believes in the Declaration of Independence"

Reese describes Jefferson Davis as, " one of America's greatest statesmen" and offers the following Jefferson Davis quotes:

"a question settled by violence would inevitably arise again, though at a different time and in a different form."

"I love the Union and the Constitution, but I would rather leave the Union with the Constitution than remain in the Union without it."

"We feel our cause is just and holy; we protest solemnly in the face of mankind that we desire peace at any sacrifice save that of our honor and independence. We ask no conquest, no aggrandizement, no concession of any kind from the states with which we were lately confederated; all we ask is to be let alone; that those who never held power over us shall not now attempt our subjugation by arms."

Powerful, wise and prophetic words by the Confederacy's only President Jefferson Davis, and some great observations by Charley Reese as well, who continues his definition of a "Jeffersonian Democrat" ...

"So to add to the definition of Jeffersonian Democrats, they were a majority of the Founding Fathers, a majority who fought the American Revolution, a majority who wrote the Constitution, and a majority who fought for Southern independence. No wonder the precious few still extant make big-government lovers so nervous. "

So how about you? Are you a "Jeffersonian Democrat"?

Clint E. Lacy

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