"Hidden History" as Justification
The third defining characteristic of Posse ideology is the peculiar method by which Posse members justified their positions. They did this through an emphasis-some would say obsession-on "hidden history." In other words, they believed that the true history of the United States-and thus the true laws, the true obligations of citizens, the true government-had been hidden from the American citizen by a massive, long-lasting conspiracy. Indeed, the Posse's handbook noted that:
"the rule for the Judiciary, both State and Federal, has been subtle subversion of the Constitution of these United States. The subversion and contempt for the Constitution by the Judiciary is joined by the Executive and Legislative branches of government. It is apparent that the Judiciary has attempted to alter our form of Government. By unlawful administrative acts and procedures, they have attempted to establish a Dictatorship of the Courts over the citizens of this Republic. The legal profession has, with few exceptions, conspired with the Judiciary for this purpose."[7]
Later Posse leaders would develop this simple beginning into a complex tale of conspiracy and cover-up, over a period of over one hundred years, designed to subvert liberty. Given this notion, that the true laws of the United States had been covered up by conspiring legislators, judges and lawyers. Posse adherents seek to uncover the hidden history that has been deprived them. They do this through searching through law books and legal codes, the writings of the founders and early legal scholars, the Uniform Commercial Code, the Bible, and other documents. "People say we're creating our own laws," said Montana Freeman Russell Landers, "We're not creating anything. It's right there in the law already." Indeed, practically any document can become fodder for a Posse governmental theory. There is no end to what a creative Posse mind can come up with.[8]
One example is the "Missing Thirteenth Amendment," popularized by Texas activist Alfred Adask. Posse adherents discovered a draft Constitutional amendment from the republic's early days, one that would deny citizenship to Americans accepting titles of nobility. This was one of many amendments that failed because not enough states ratified it. But Posse adherents decided not only that it had been ratified, but that its ratification had been covered up by a conspiracy. Their erroneous beliefs were bolstered by discovering some old printed copies of the Constitution which listed the draft amendment along with other, actually ratified amendments. Posse "scholars" combed through state archives, looking for votes on ratification, or hints of cover-up, and concluded, not surprisingly, that there had indeed been a cover-up. Why did the Posse spend all this energy? Because of the way that they interpreted the meaning of the amendment. To the Posse, all lawyers had "titles of nobility," because they put the term "esquire" after their names. Therefore, lawyers were not legally citizens of the United States-but they had engaged to cover up the Thirteenth Amendment, which would have taken away so much of their power.
Another example of Posse creativity was the Committee of the States, the brainchild of Posse leader William Potter Gale in the 1980s. Gale argued that the Articles of Confederation, the document that governed the United States before the Constitution was ratified, had never been officially repealed and remained in force. Gale then pointed to a clause in the Articles which said that Congress could appoint a committee that would handle the general affairs of the United States when Congress was not in session (under the Articles, there was no executive branch). Gale interpreted this to mean that the Committee of the States was a second Congress, with full and equal powers-he promptly arranged for a (self-appointed) Committee to come into being.
These different facets of Posse Comitatus ideology shaped the evolution of the movement in the 1970s and 1980s. The Posse absorbed much of the tax protest movement, whose natural inclinations were very similar: to avoid the obligation to pay income taxes, and to use "hidden history" as a means, including re-interpreting obscure or out-of-context parts of the tax code and finding novel ways of declaring that the 16th Amendment had never been legitimately ratified. Another, more important, association made by the Posse during this time period was the development of close ties with the anti-Semitic religious sect Christian Identity.
Christian Identity, whose members believe that Jews are descended from Satan, was small in number but disproportionately influential in the far right. From the very beginning, Posse ideology was attractive to Christian Identity leaders (and vice versa). For Posse adherents looking for the "true law" that conspirators had erased, Christian Identity advocates pointed to the Bible, saying that the Constitution was divinely inspired. For Posse adherents looking for the source of conspiracy, Christian Identity could point to Jews or "international bankers" as the culprits. Identity theology and Posse ideology complemented each other. William Potter Gale, one of the founders of the Posse, was also one of the most prominent Christian Identity ministers. James Wickstrom, the most visible Posse leader, was likewise an influential Identity figure. Although Posse ideology could always be utilized without a racist component, for many, Posse and Identity beliefs went hand in hand.
The development of the Posse ideology also helps to explain its first rise to prominence during the farm crisis of the early 1980s, when inflation, falling land values, rising interest rates, and poor lending practices combined to create a financial crisis that threatened to overwhelm farmers of little or moderate means. The Posse offered a culprit - the international (Jewish) banking conspiracy which had destroyed the Constitutional/Biblical monetary system and replaced it with one based on credit designed to suck people dry. The Posse also offered a solution: its version of the common law. In February 1981 Missouri farmer Wayne Cryts confronted federal marshals preventing him from retrieving his crop from the grain elevator in which it was stored by telling them, "I am a sovereign individual and a citizen of the state of Missouri and am operating under common law. The court order is without the weight of law and does not have jurisdiction over me." The marshals stepped aside, allowing Cryts to recover his soybeans. This action, which made Cryts a hero to desperate farmers, symbolized the hope and the promise of the "common law." [9]