Freedom Under Siege: The U.S. Constitution After 200 Years

Freedom Under Siege is Ron Paul’s political manifesto on civil liberties, written in 1987 on the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. The book provides Paul’s most extended thoughts on what it means to be a constitutionalist in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson, addressing the rights of Americans that he believes are under systematic assault from their own government.

Paul discusses the draft and draft registration, impositions on the right of individuals to own guns, restrictions on the freedom to speak and write, and draws out the links between all these policies and an interventionist foreign policy. He connects violations of individual rights to the national security state and the erosion of sound money.

The book argues that when a nation’s money is controlled by the people through a commodity standard, they retain their freedoms, but when government monopolizes money with no tie to a commodity, the state can override liberties at will. Originally published by the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, the book was later reissued by the Mises Institute.