Thomas Jefferson was right. Getting from today – the largest government in history – to an actual “land of the free” will not be quick OR easy.
Jefferson wrote about advancing liberty in a 1790 letter to his friend, Rev. Charles Clay. He said, “The ground of liberty is to be gained by inches.”
Think about that.
It took over two centuries for the government to grow into the behemoth that it is today. It won’t be cut back down to size in a day.
As Jefferson put it, “we must be contented to secure the liberty we can get from time to time, And eternally press forward for what is yet to get.”
Imagine if you were starving. You wouldn’t turn down a slice of bread just because it wasn’t a whole loaf. You’d eat the slice and gain what strength you could to keep pushing forward.
Today, we’re definitely starving when it comes to liberty. And have been for generations.
So, you take the small victories and then build on that foundation for more. As Jefferson summed it up, “It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good.”
That’s what we work to put into practice today. Lead through education – and by example. You can even find this mindset embodied on our website and TAC membership cards in a latin phrase, Concordia res parvae crescunt. It was used prominently by John Dickinson in 1767 – who worked closely with Jefferson on a number of revolutionary writings over the years. And it means “small things grow great by concord.”
The “Penman of the Revolution” was right. And small things did grow great in the years to come.
Step-by-step. Brick-by-brick. Person-by-person. We’re working hard every single day to build a strong foundation for the Constitution and liberty – whether the government wants us to, or not.
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