By Deb Hogshead, guest columnist

If there was anything I knew as a kid about the American Revolution it was that we toppled a king. I always took pride in this fact because I have ancestors on both sides of my family who fought in the war. One of them, Isaiah Hoskinson (1749-1836), is buried in the Hupp-Hoskinson Cemetery in Licking County.

At least three veterans of the Revolutionary War are buried here in Miami County at Troy’s Rose Hill Cemetery: John W. Meredith (1761-1844), Alexander Telford (1760-1844), and Aaron Tullis (1751-1840).

These four men were either teenagers or in their mid-20s when the Declaration of Independence was signed. I know little else about them beyond a general understanding of the principles for which they fought—and for which an estimated 25,000 died.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” So begins the first line of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.

To justify separation from Great Britain, our founding document lists 27 specific examples of abuses perpetrated by King George III. Listed as the first grievance, “He has refused his Assent to [approval of] Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.” Here are just a few others:

• “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass [sic] our people, and eat out their substance”

• “For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury”

• “For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments”

Where are we now, 249 years later? Are we once again living under a king?

Democrat or Republican, a president is not a king. The current administration, however, is acting like one, and the majority in Congress seems to be abdicating its constitutional duty to be a check on the executive branch. But even after the President leaves office, kings will remain. These other kings have been at work for well over 100 years, thanks to a series of U.S. Supreme Court cases that have given them constitutional advantages over the rest of us. I’m speaking of the ultra-wealthy and large corporations, the power brokers with the big money to influence elections and the decisions of the elected—decisions about issues such as funding for public education, access to healthcare, protection of the environment and public health, corporate use of public lands, and the privatization of government services. Their agendas put profits over the most wholesome laws necessary for the public good. Ending their rule requires us to do something revolutionary.

By revolutionary I don’t mean war. I mean a dramatic change to the U.S. Constitution, a change that embodies its aspirational preamble, which opens with the words “We the People.”

As the Declaration of Independence states, governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and the people have the right to alter it, “laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

If we are to have a government of, by, and for the people—as opposed to a government of, by, and for the ultra-wealthy and large corporations—we must amend the Constitution, adopting and putting into practice two additional guiding principles: a corporation is not a person with unalienable, constitutional rights, and money spent on political campaigns is not free speech and shall be regulated.

It’s time to topple the kings of today with a constitutional amendment. I can’t think of a better way to honor Isaiah, John, Alexander, Aaron, and all those who made our nation possible.

The writer is a Troy resident and a volunteer with Move to Amend Miami County.