"Back a hundred years ago, especially around Woodrow Wilson, what happened in this country is we took freedom and we chopped it into pieces"

When Ron Paul references the early 20th century and Woodrow Wilson’s era, he points to a pivotal transformation in the role of government in the United States and the concept of individual liberty. That period marked significant shifts, with the Progressive Era ushering in a range of governmental reforms, federal agencies, and interventions previously unheard of in American politics. Paul highlights a change from a prior tradition in which governmental powers were tightly constrained, and personal freedoms were more broadly interpreted.

Under Wilson, foundational legislation altered the balance between the citizen and the state. The creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913 centralized control over currency and monetary policy. The passage of the Sixteenth Amendment enabled federal collection of income taxes, further consolidating federal power. The Espionage and Sedition Acts limited free speech during World War I, showcasing government authority over individual rights. Wilson's progressive vision insisted that expert administrators and central government oversight were necessary to address the complex challenges of modern society. Supporters of such reforms believed regulation could restrain economic abuses and address social inequities, but libertarians like Paul view these interventions as infringements on individual autonomy and the original constitutional intent.

Paul’s phrase “chopped it into pieces” underscores his perception that liberty was systematically segmented, restricted, and regulated through new laws and bureaucracies. The transition from negative liberty (freedom from interference) to positive liberty (government’s active role in securing welfare and opportunity) meant that federal oversight penetrated deeper into daily life: in economic transactions, personal choices, and speech. To Paul and many with a similar philosophy, this expansion of state power represents a departure from the promises of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Rather than preserving an undivided, broad freedom, America’s government began dividing liberty into permissible and impermissible actions, justifying regulation for the sake of public good. Paul’s historical critique mourns the dilution of a more absolute notion of freedom in exchange for perceived security and order.