If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there
is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of
self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and
which against the usurpations of the national rulers may be exerted
with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the
rulers of an individual State.
In a single State, if the persons intrusted with supreme power become
usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it
consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular
measures for defense.
The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without
system, without resource; except in their courage and despair. The
usurpers, clothed with the forms of legal authority, can too often crush
the opposition in embryo.
The smaller the extent of the territory, the more difficult will it
be for the people to form a regular or systematic plan of opposition,
and the more easy will it be to defeat their early efforts.
The obstacles to usurpation and the facilities of resistance increase
with the increased extent of the state, provided the citizens
understand their rights and are disposed to defend them.
The natural strength of the people in a large community, in
proportion to the artificial strength of the government, is greater than
in a small, and of course more competent to a struggle with the
attempts of the government to establish a tyranny.
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