Is it illegal to overthrow the government

coup d’état, also called coup, the sudden, violent overthrow of an existing government by a small group. The chief prerequisite for a coup is control of all or part of the armed forces, the police, and other military elements. Unlike a revolution, which is usually achieved by large numbers of people working for basic social, economic, and political change, a coup is a change in power from the top that merely results in the abrupt replacement of leading government personnel. A coup rarely alters a nation’s fundamental social and economic policies, nor does it significantly redistribute power among competing political groups. Among the earliest modern coups were those in which Napoleon overthrew the Directory on November 9, 1799 (18 Brumaire), and in which Louis Napoleon dissolved the assembly of France’s Second Republic in 1851. Coups were a regular occurrence in various Latin American nations in the 19th and 20th centuries and in Africa after the countries there gained independence in the 1960s.

The Declaration of Independence says that we not only have the right but we also have the duty to alter or abolish any government that does not secure our unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Given that the U.S. was formed by settlers who threw off British government rule, there is also an historic precedent for overthrowing the government.

In Episode 5 of the six part series on America’s founding below, Rochester Institute of Technology Professor Sarah Burns explains that the message of the Declaration of Independence is that we – as a free people – have the right to stand up to an oppressive government.

This was – and in many cases still is – a radical idea. But it is based on the philosophy that people have rights that no government can grant or deny.

According to John Locke, the fountainhead of this philosophy: There is no difference between an unjust government and a thief. Just like we are right to fight off a thief, we are right to fight off an oppressive government.

What do you think about this argument? Leave your comments below.

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