THE ASHEVILLE DECLARATION: A SECOND DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

The following declaration is the founding document of the Southern Party, adopted and signed in Flat Rock, North Carolina, on August 7, 1999.

WE, THE FOUNDERS of the Southern party, acting in the spirit of our Southern colonial and Confederate forefathers, believing American civilization derives its greatest strength from its historic Christian faith and its fidelity to limited constitutional government, affirm:

that the United States Constitution, a work of political genius ordained in Philadelphia in 1787, and inspired, in large measure, by Southerners, nevertheless established a federal government sharply delineated in power and scope, deriving its authority from enumerated powers delegated by the people of the sovereign states;

that these delegated powers, granted conditionally by the people of the states, can be recalled by the people when they determine these powers have been employed in a manner injurious to their constitutional liberties;

that in 1861, the people of the Southern states, fearing the federal union lacked sufficient safeguards to protect their largely agrarian economies from the growing avarice of Northern mercantilist interests, exercising their rights as sovereign parties to the federal compact, withdrew their delegated powers and vested them in a new compact better suited to their interests;

that these states, having duly withdrawn and vested these powers in a new federal compact known as the Confederate States, were illegally invaded and conquered by military forces of the United States acting at the behest of these mercantilist interests;

that, following this invasion and subsequent occupation by federal forces, the Southern states, unduly deprived of their constitutional rights, were subjected to a systematic program of economic, social and political dispossession and colonization known as Reconstruction, the effects of which still are being felt today in the form of predatory taxation, an imperial presidency, and a tyrannical judiciary;

that one of the most pernicious effects of this colonization was the establishment of a Northern-inspired public educational system under which generations of children have been inculcated with the flawed egalitarian social principles borrowed from the French Revolution of 1789;

that within the past few decades, these egalitarian ideals have degenerated into an insidious form of authoritarianism broadly described as "political correctness," the express purpose of which is to subvert the symbols, traditions and institutions of Western civilization;

that a major focus of this subversion is the South, whose symbols, anthems and monuments are besieged by a zealous, unrelenting campaign of cultural cleansing;

that the predominant cultural institutions wherein political correctness is most deeply rooted -- liberal churches, institutions of higher learning, the media and private foundations -- comprise the beachhead from which this subversion is being waged;

that these wrongful ideas, firmly rooted and pervasive throughout the dominant culture, having been instilled for the purpose of subverting the people''s faith in limited government and in the institutions undergirding traditional society, threaten to produce their intended effect, leading to what portends to be a cultural collapse of immense proportions;

that nations, in fact, are not founded on abstract principles but are the centuries-old distillation of faith, language, culture and blood kinship, and that the South, notwithstanding the effects of modernism, remains an historic and authentic nation by every measure;

that since the Confederate surrender at Appomattox in 1865, the people of the Southern states have watched helplessly as our civilization draws closer to the precipice and as the American federal system, shamefully disregarding the rule of law, degenerates into a consolidated empire in which the sovereign states are reduced to de facto provinces;

that, notwithstanding these unfortunate events, all that prevents the people of the states from reasserting their ancient rights is a lack of political will and moral courage;

that, due to this grievous lack of constitutional vigilance and resolve by the people of the states, the federal government, utterly lacking in moral legitimacy, has strayed far beyond the point at which meaningful constitutional reform is possible;

that, faced with the bitter prospect of cultural upheaval and political tyranny, it behooves the people of the sovereign states to recall these delegated powers and to establish a new constitutional system befitting the high ideals of the colonial and Confederate Founding Fathers;

that the last, best hope for constitutional liberty lies with the people of the South, predominantly Celtic and British in culture, true to their Christian faith, inspired by the memories and sacrifices of their colonial and Confederate forefathers, and jealous of their ancient liberties.

Therefore, we, the founders of the Southern party, invoking the blessings of everlasting, almighty God and pledging our "lives, fortunes and sacred honor," solemnly resolve to restore to the people of the South the lawful self-government and independence which are their birthright.

Our struggle is not for riches, glory or honor but for the freedom to govern ourselves and to resume our rightful place among the peoples and the nations of the earth.

In the spirit of Christian charity, bearing malice toward none, we invite high-minded individuals from all walks and stations of life to join us in our struggle to restore the blessings of ordered liberty to our beloved Southland.