Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century [Hardcover]

Thomas E. Woods Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 2010

Citizens across the country are fed up with the politicians in Washington telling us how to live our lives—and then sticking us with the bill. But what can we do? Actually, we can just say “no.” As New York Times bestselling author Thomas E. Woods, Jr., explains, “nullification” allows states to reject unconstitutional federal laws. For many tea partiers nationwide, nullification is rapidly becoming the only way to stop an over-reaching government drunk on power. From privacy to national healthcare, Woods shows how this growing and popular movement is sweeping across America and empowering states to take action against Obama’s socialist policies and big-government agenda.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Unconstitutional laws are pouring out of Washington…but we can stop them.

Just ask Thomas Jefferson. There is a “rightful remedy” to federal power grabs—it’s called Nullification.

In Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century, historian and New York Times bestselling author Thomas E. Woods, Jr. explains not only why nullification is the constitutional tool the Founders envisioned, but how it works—and has already been employed in cases ranging from upholding the First Amendment to knocking down slave laws before the Civil War. In Nullification, Woods shows:

* How the states were meant to be checks against federal tyranny—and how a growing roster of governors and state attorneys general are recognizing they need to become that again
* Why the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution reinforces the rights of states to nullify unconstitutional laws
* Why it was left to the states to uphold the simple principle that an unconstitutional law is no law at all
* Why, without nullification, ordinary Americans will continue to suffer the oppression of unjust, unconstitutional laws
* PLUS thorough documentation of how the Founding Fathers believed nullification could be applied

Nullification is not just a book—it could become a movement to restore the proper constitutional limits of the federal government. Powerful, provocative, and timely, Nullification is sure to stir debate and become a constitutional handbook for all liberty-loving Americans.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Nullification

“In clear and well-documented arguments, Tom Woods gives hope to those who wish to tame the federal monster as the Framers intended—by using the utterly lawful and historically accepted principle of Nullification. You must read this book.”
—The Honorable Andrew P. Napolitano, Senior Judicial Analyst, Fox News Channel

“Thomas Jefferson said, ‘Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.’ It turns out that at least two thirds of congressional spending is absent of any constitutional authority. That means that at the very least, it is going to take the vigorous use of nullification to restore the American republic. Anyone in the Tea Party movement or elsewhere who really wants to limit government ought to start with this highly readable and informative book.”
—Walter E. Williams, John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics, George Mason University

“This book is a must read for all who respect and cherish liberty. During these times that challenge our freedoms there is no one more qualified to make U.S. history relevant to the fight against big government than Thomas Woods.”
—Barry M. Goldwater, Jr., former Member of Congress

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 309 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing (June 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596981490
• ISBN-13: 978-1596981492
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Law > Constitutional Law

More About the Author

I hold my master's, M.Phil., and Ph.D. in history from Columbia University and my bachelor's from Harvard. I've written numerous books, including The Church Confronts Modernity (Columbia University Press) and two New York Times bestsellers -- Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse, and The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. My two latest books are Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse and Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century.

My wife and I have four young daughters and live in Topeka, Kansas.

My full biography can be found at www.TomWoods.com/about. My upcoming appearances, in addition to plenty of free audio, video, and articles, are also available at my website.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

187 of 210 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Woods does it again, June 28, 2010

By 

Jack Hunter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century (Hardcover)

Tom Woods' latest book is another example of the author doing what he does best--dissecting political and economic failure by striking at the root of the problem and offering common sense and constitution-based solutions, something he always does in an easy to comprehend, everyman style. Ironically, the solutions Woods offers are often considered unconventional or controversial, but only by the same professional talking heads who got us into virtually every mess the author addresses.

As with his bestseller "Meltdown," in which Woods explained how the Federal Reserve and government intervention were primary culprits in the ongoing recession, "Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century," is a how-to for Americans fed up with an out-of-control Washington, DC. Question: How can we expect a federal government no longer restrained by the Constitution to be contained by that document any time in the future? Answer: by containing it ourselves.

Woods argues that Americans concerned about federal overreach--on everything from the imposition of national healthcare to medicinal marijuana laws--should revisit the "principles of '98," as in 1798, when James Madison and Thomas Jefferson famously insisted that the federal government, as Woods puts, "cannot be permitted to hold a monopoly on constitutional interpretation" or the "exclusive right to judge the extent of its own powers," or it would continue to grow, "regardless of elections, the separation of powers and other much-touted limits on government power."

Per the 10th amendment and Madison and Jefferson's example, Woods argues that states should render void--or nullify--oppressive federal mandates, as not only a necessary measure, but perhaps the only possible way Americans might ever stuff the beast in Washington back into its constitutional box. Woods points out that nullification is not only an old, all-American concept whose time has come, but is far more practical method of substantively addressing today's problems than the false solutions offered by the Left/Right, two-party paradigm, a truly archaic political model which has kept us distracted from the real dilemma of unchecked government power--something our rulers laughably keep insisting they will keep in check so long as their own party holds all the power in government.

FOX News host Judge Andrew Napolitano is correct when he says "In clear and well-documented arguments, Tom Woods gives hope to those who wish to tame the federal monster as the Framers intended--by using the utterly lawful and historically accepted principle of Nullification." Indeed. And with his latest offering, Tom Woods has given Americans who genuinely want to "take their country back" the blueprint to do just that.

103 of 120 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Woods Gives Us Real American History, June 28, 2010

By 

Robert Murphy (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century (Hardcover)

Full disclosure: I am a personal friend of Tom Woods. Even so, I like some of his books more than others, but _Nullification_ is definitely one of his gems. Until I read this book, I had no idea that the concept of nullification was NOT invented in, say, 1858 by the legislatures of southern states.

On the contrary, Woods shows that this was an idea championed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and flowed seamlessly from the "compact theory of the Union." Nullification was not an ad hoc principle dreamed up in a particular battle over states' rights, but instead was an integral part of Jefferson's philosophy of a federation in which the central government only received enumerated (and strictly limited) powers from the states who constituted the Union.

This book is a great read for anyone who loves colonial and early US history. Woods sketches a vision of early America that we didn't learn in grade school. For example, the handbill announcing the "Anti-Slave-Catchers' Mass Convention" (p. 82) is amazing--outraged citizens in Wisconsin didn't want to hand over an escaped slave as the feds dictated (under the Fugitive Slave Act). This episode is but one example that Woods provides, to prove that very often "states' rights" were used to *protect* liberty. Is that really so hard to understand--that sometimes the *federal* government is the bad guy?

A surprise in this book is Chapter 4, "What Is (or Are) the United States, Anyway?" Here Woods makes a compelling argument for the compact theory of the Union, which is the view that the federal government was created by the individual States when they ratified the Constitution. (A nationalist view holds that "the people of the United States" collectively formed the central government, and that therefore the individual state governments are subordinate to it.)

Much of Woods' evidence I had read before, but a new one was his focus on the Declaration of Independence itself, which says:

"...That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do" (qtd p. 97).

Woods points out that if the individual States, upon their declaration of independence, retained the rights to *start wars and contract alliances*, then surely they were sovereign political entities, in the way that France and Great Britain were separate States. It is then an easy matter to show that at no point, whether with the Articles of Confederation or the Constitution (which after all was ratified NOT by the American public but by the individual states), did these initially sovereign states cede all of their powers to the U.S. government.

All in all, an excellent book that provides a new look at American history, but also draws lessons that are very relevant in today's political battles.

75 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Revolution Gets Teeth, June 28, 2010

By 

JSBM "Author, 'Gods of Ruin: A Political Thri... (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century (Hardcover)

There's a lot of talk about "revolution" these days--the Ron Paul version being the loudest and most sweeping--but as far as I know, none of the revolutions being talked about have teeth. Paul's is focused on first auditing the Federal Reserve, then getting rid of it altogether, but that takes acts of Congress, which, barring any sea change in the near future, isn't going to be committing any such act as good for the country as that.

Enter Thomas E. Woods, who wrote the succinct, powerful Meltdown about the economic crisis. Woods looks back to the age of unprecedented American prosperity (the early nineteenth century) for an idea that will move the country forward in all respects: nullification. The idea is pretty simple: states have the right to simply reject anything the federal government puts out that expressly contradicts the Constitution. This revolution is much more easily obtained as it requires the participation of a state, not the entire country.

As the documents in Part II of the book reveal, Woods bases his concept of writings all published before the Civil War. To many, that might sound quaint, but to others, that age represented the peak of liberty on Earth (at least certain demographics). Only if we look to the original intent of the United States can we really understand the potential of this country. As Woods writes, was the United States supposed to be just another run-of-the-mill centralized power or was the United States created as a conglomerate of independent political societies?

The answer, of course, is the latter. But that has been confused as the power-hungry D.C. types look to consolidate control over the entire population. They want socialism. But they don't want socialism just for themselves (which would be fine), they want it for you too, and everyone else, which is not fine. Should not citizens in this country be able to "opt out" of a corrupt, self-destructive federalism?

Woods' answer is yes. He shows that nullification has a rich history and is, in fact, at the core of the original intent of the country.