History of the New Jersey Constitutional Republicans
I founded the New Jersey Constitutional Republicans as a Non-Profit 501(3)(C) in January of 2017. One incentive in fashioning the organization was to assist citizens in learning and understanding the purpose of government as the Founding Fathers envisaged. The political theory of the American founding has been all but extinguished from the thinking of most citizens which has been made evident by the choices and selections they make in elections for representative offices at the local, state, and national stages.
The selections offered in the last two presidential elections are indicative of the lack of constitutional literacy and intellectual rigor the founders would have required for every voter, every perspective candidate, and elected representative. The American people have compromised the standards they must require from elected officials. This is largely the result of a “progressive,” or more accurately described as, “regressive” political theory first introduced in the latter portion of the 19th century which utterly repudiated the political theory of the American founders and their recognition of the laws of nature and nature’s God, natural rights, consent of the governed, representative government, separation of powers, and enumerated responsibilities.
Today, our political environment has been all together shaped by Franklin Roosevelts, “New Deal,” and his “2nd Bill of Rights,” in framing our understanding of the purpose of government and the far-ranging impact beginning with the transition from “Classical Liberalism,” into “New Deal Liberalism.” When we have such low regard for our legislative branches and the responsibilities they have handed over to administrative agencies and bureaucracies, comprised of unelected “experts,” or when we are informed of the use of executive orders having the force of law with presidents and governors being responsible for actions good or bad from a free market, or a judiciary that is legislating from the bench and finding “penumbras and emanations,” from the explicit text of the Constitution to impose social agendas that are contrary to the laws of nature and nature’s God, then you are just scratching the surface in beginning to understand the all-pervasive affect FDR’s, “New Deal,” and progressive political theory has had on the American mind, heart, and soul.
The New Jersey Constitutional Republicans were created to help educate our citizens on the political theory of the American founding and what, why, and how the theory that founded the United States has become undermined by progressivism. With the dawning of the “New Left,” in the 1960’s paving the way for the Neo-Marxism that permeates the critical social justice and critical race theories eagerly embraced by the Democratic Party, a multi-front attack exists creating a repressive political environment that can only be answered by a constitutionally literate and a morally virtuous citizenry demanding the same literacy and virtues from those they elect to represent them.
The second reason for forming the organization was the utter abandonment by local, state, and national Republican representatives and candidates of the initial principles associated with the founding of the Party. The first plank in the first platform in 1856 says… “Resolved: That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution are essential to the preservation of our Republican institutions, and that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and the union of the States, must and shall be preserved.” The next two planks in the platform would culminate with the words…”it is both the right and the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit in the Territories those twin relics of barbarism — Polygamy, and Slavery.” From its inception, the Republican Party was making a moral stand against two injustices that ran contrary to the laws of nature and nature’s God.
In 1858, galvanized by Abraham Lincoln’s rejuvenation and restoration of the principles of the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln re-introduced the political theory of the American founding into the great debate over the expansion and validation of slavery and how slavery was anathema to the principles of the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln’s Republican Party was inspired to take a moral stand against oppression based on the high principles identified in the Declaration of Independence.
Today’s Republican Party has been crippled by the all-encompassing influences of progressivism, dissolution, moral indifference, and demagoguery. Conflict in the Party today is derived from the Party abandoning principle for personality, transforming into a cult of personality that has become an autocratic, populist, absolutist, and authoritarian movement having lost all logic and reason from far too many, “Republicans.” Many imposters exist, having taken advantage of the Republican brand to propel their own self-aggrandizement utilizing an inane populist agenda. They will say, “America first,” as a ruse to gain followers, not knowing, nor caring, that America will never be first unless the Constitution is first and that has never been completely accomplished, yet this aspiration must always be the objective for the American people. I believe that the initial principles of the Republican Party, as identified in its original platform, and best articulated by Abraham Lincoln transcend time, space, and most especially, personality and are in dire need of restoration within the Party’s mind, heart, and soul today.
Since the organization’s inception, NJCR conducted several monthly meetings, consisting of featured speakers, candidates, representatives, educating and inspiring attendees, some of whom would go on to elected office in New Jersey! NJCR has produced many videos and have utilized the New Jersey Constitutional Republicans Virtual Conversations to talk with local, state, and national figures to further help educate our audience and provide a medium for participants who would otherwise be ostracized by most media sources. Constitutional Republicans Academia was created to provide a resource and environment from which to learn the “science of government,” better equipping a citizen on civics and their duty in contributing to a just and prosperous society. Each year NJCR continues to grow and gain notoriety throughout New Jersey and elsewhere hoping to further expand the Constitutional Republican movement state by state and nationwide. It’s my hope that you too, will help make and be part of the history of the New Jersey Constitutional Republicans, restoring the Republican Party back into the image of its greatest leader and proclaim his endless message of “Liberty to All!”
J.R. Carman
Founder