They had a lot more pragmatic view than the current "what is the government allowed to do and not allowed to do" viewpoint. Basically, we're all just bebopping around in the world. All this stuff is made up. If someone is infringing on your rights, you get together some like minded friends and you make them stop doing that. That's it. It makes it a little nicer, and easier to organize, if there are all these written documents that are generally agreed upon and recognized explaining what the guidelines are "supposed to" be and why, but the documents don't do shit all on their own. It's just made up. What produces an impact is people, fighting for their freedom, or not.