The Last 500 Years: Power Shifts, Consolidations, and the Long Arc Toward “All Things New”
In the previous essays we looked at factions, checks and balances, the sticky prestige web, and the modern systems that shape our daily lives.
Today I want to zoom out even further and trace the major power shifts and consolidations over the last 500 years — roughly from the 1500s to now.
This is not a complete history. It is a conversation starter. None of us has the full picture. We are all learning together.
The pattern that emerges is striking again and again; crisis is used to centralize power.
Empires rise, banking families gain influence, wars and financial panics create opportunities for new systems of control, and the people often end up more dependent. Yet every time the old system reaches its limit, a shift occurs — and new possibilities open. Let’s walk through the major chapters simply and honestly.
1500s–1700s: Empires, Missions, and the Rise of Banking Families
The discovery of the New World, the Reformation, and the growth of global trade created massive wealth flows. Spanish missionaries and conquistadors spread across the Americas, often displacing native populations and imposing new religious and political structures.
The Jesuits, a powerful Catholic order founded in 1540, became highly influential in education, politics, and missionary work across the world. At the same time, banking families like the Medici in Italy and later the Fuggers and Rothschilds in Europe grew extremely powerful by financing kings, wars, and exploration.
In North America, the British colonies eventually rebelled against the crown.
The American Revolution (1776) and the writing of the Constitution were attempts to break old monarchial power. Many of the Founders were influenced by Enlightenment ideas, and some were Freemasons — a fraternal organization that played a visible role in the early republic. The Constitution was designed to limit federal power and protect liberty, with strong emphasis on states and the people.
1800s: The Civil War, Emancipation, and the Homestead Act
The Civil War (1861–1865) was a massive crisis. On the surface it was about slavery, but deeper economic issues were at play — tariffs that favored Northern industry, states’ rights, and the desire of the South to leave the Union peacefully. Lincoln used the crisis to preserve the Union, issue the Emancipation Proclamation (1863), and push the 13th Amendment to end slavery. Five days after the war ended, Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865. In the middle of the war, he signed the Homestead Act of 1862 — giving ordinary Americans 160 acres of land to build homes, farms, and real independence.
This was a bold move to expand opportunity and dilute old power structures. At the same time, the war dramatically expanded federal power.
In California, the 1849 Constitution (written when California became a state) was replaced by a new 1879 Constitution that was much longer and gave the state more regulatory power over corporations, railroads, and land use — a response to the economic hardships after the Panic of 1873 and the growing power of the railroads.
1871: The District of Columbia Organic Act
In 1871, Congress passed the District of Columbia Organic Act. This created a new municipal corporation for Washington, D.C., and changed the legal status of the federal government in subtle but significant ways. Many constitutional scholars argue this began the slow shift toward treating the federal government more like a commercial entity operating under admiralty/maritime law rather than pure constitutional law. This is where the idea of “corporate government” and the use of birth certificates as contracts enters the conversation for many researchers.
Late 1800s–Early 1900s: Central Banking, World War I, and the Balfour Declaration
World War I (1914–1918) was another catastrophic crisis. Britain was financially collapsing, deeply in debt to American banks. In 1917 Britain issued the Balfour Declaration — a 67-word letter promising Palestine as a “national home for the Jewish people.” The land was not Britain’s to give, and the people living there were not consulted. The declaration was addressed to Lord Walter Rothschild, one of the most powerful bankers in the world. Historians note that Britain was using the promise as leverage to secure financial and political support while trying to keep the war effort alive. The war redrew maps, weakened old empires, and consolidated power in new financial and political structures.
1913: The Federal Reserve and the IRS
Two major changes happened in 1913. The Federal Reserve Act created a central banking system that gave a small group of private bankers significant control over the U.S. money supply. The 16th Amendment established the income tax, creating the IRS. These changes gave the federal government a permanent revenue stream and centralized control over money and taxation in ways the Founders had warned against.
1937: The Marihuana Tax Act and the Removal of Hemp
In 1937, Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act. This law effectively made hemp illegal to grow in America, even though hemp is a non-psychoactive variety of the cannabis plant that had been cultivated since the founding fathers. Hemp was incredibly versatile — it was used for paper, rope, textiles, fuel, clothing, and even food. Powerful interests in the timber, petroleum, and synthetic fiber industries (such as DuPont’s new nylon) pushed hard for its suppression. During World War II, the government temporarily reversed course with the “Hemp for Victory” campaign, urging farmers to grow massive amounts of hemp for the war effort. Once the war ended, the restrictions returned. The deliberate removal of hemp helped lock the world into a petroleum-based economy and centralized control over essential materials.
1920s–1940s: The Great Depression, World War II, and Bretton Woods
The 1929 crash and the Great Depression were used to justify even more centralized economic control. World War II was another massive crisis. After the war, the Bretton Woods system (1944) created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, with the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency backed by gold. This gave the United States enormous global financial power. The creation of Israel in 1948 was shaped by the earlier Balfour Declaration and post-war realities.
1950s–2000s: Cold War, Oil, Debt, and Globalism
The Cold War created a bipolar world. The removal of the gold standard in 1971 turned the dollar into a pure fiat currency, allowing massive debt creation. The petrodollar system (oil traded in U.S. dollars) gave America huge leverage but tied the global economy to oil. The 9/11 attacks in 2001 led to the Patriot Act and a massive expansion of surveillance powers. The 2008 financial crisis led to bailouts that further concentrated wealth. The rise of Big Tech in the 2010s created new centers of power — Silicon Valley became a kind of digital empire.
2010s–Present: The Great Power Shift and the Current Moment
We are living through an acceleration of the shift. Silicon Valley has lost over $500 billion (and counting) as companies and billionaires move to Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and other states. High taxes, regulations, and cost of living are driving the exodus. The coastal model that dominated for decades is cracking. At the same time, the petroleum-based system is under pressure. New energy technologies, BRICS nations, and changing global alliances are challenging the old petrodollar order. President Trump’s policies — including the EO removing regulatory barriers to housing — are part of an attempt to rebalance power, cut bureaucracy, and create new frontiers.
This is the pattern of the last 500 years:
crisis after crisis is used to consolidate power in new forms — banking families, empires, central banks, international institutions, and now global tech and financial networks. The veil is thick because truth and lies are mixed together. Many good people are caught in systems they did not create and do not fully understand. Yet in the middle of this, something hopeful is happening. The power is shifting. The old centralized models are reaching their limits. People are waking up at lightning speed — learning the Constitution, learning their rights, learning how to stand in authority.
This is where our 9 Branches and the 3-track plan become so important.
They are not just another system. They are a practical way to respond to the chaos with stewardship, healing, and shared prosperity:
- Freedom Zones heal the broken and dependent communities left behind by the old system.
- Large Homestead Properties empower motivated stewards to build independently.
- Small Residential Parcels and Urban Apartments give everyday families the dignity of homeownership.
All three tracks use existing funds wisely.
They cut unnecessary regulation. They create jobs. They heal land and people. They operate under constitutional stewardship instead of the old prestige web or centralized control. We don’t need to fight the old system with the same weapons. We can demonstrate a better way — one acre, one family, one community at a time.
I don’t have all the answers. None of us do. That is why this format is important — iron sharpens iron.
We read the Federalist Papers, we look honestly at the patterns of the last 500 years, we share what we see, and we sharpen one another. What do you think?
Have you seen the same patterns of crisis and consolidation in your own study of history?
How do you see the current power shift affecting New California?
How can the 9 Branches help us respond in this moment? Let’s talk. Let’s sharpen one another.
Have you seen the same patterns of crisis and consolidation in your own study of history?
How do you see the current power shift affecting New California?
How can the 9 Branches help us respond in this moment? Let’s talk. Let’s sharpen one another.
Thy Kingdom come — on earth as it is in Heaven.
Iron sharpens iron. This is my fifth essay in the series. I openly share it and welcome your thoughts, wisdom, sharpening, and collaboration. If this stirs something in your heart, I would love to hear from you.