Timely Lessons About Tyranny from the Father of the Constitution
By: John Whitehead James Madison, often referred to as the “Father of the Constitution,” once predicted that the Bill of Rights would become mere “parchment barrier,” words on paper ...
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A Positive Feedback Loop of Power-Grabbing
By: Rudolph Kohn The classical liberal philosophy expounded by John Locke and many of the American founders was a brilliant attempt to abolish government by the principle of “might ...
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Informing the Founders: A Short History of Standing Armies in England
By: TJ Martinell The founding generation harbored a deep distrust of standing armies. This flowed not only from their first-hand experience with the British, but also from arguments against permanent military ...
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John Adams: Patriot and Tyrant?
By: Mike Maharrey Many revere John Adams as a great patriot. Others view him as a big-government tyrant. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. Adams was a prominent leader during ...
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The Petition of Right of 1628: A Forgotten Cornerstone of Our Constitution
By: Joe Wolverton, II Three hundred and ninety-five years ago, one of the most important documents in the history of the creation of the United States Constitution became law, though today ...
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Countering Relentless Propaganda and Widespread Ignorance
By: Michael Boldin Thomas Jefferson warned us. “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” The people ...
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Six Must Read Sources from Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
By: Michael Boldin Most people today have little to no familiarity with any of the principles that influenced the founders. Below, you’ll find 6 important resources hand-picked by Thomas Jefferson and ...
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Thomas Jefferson and James Madison’s “Must Read” Sources to Understand Liberty and American Government
By: Mike Maharrey How can we learn about the founding principles and the meaning of the Constitution? Minutes from an 1825 meeting of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors shed some ...
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The ideas that formed the Constitution: Virgil alone
By: Rob Natelson The previous (ninth) essay in this series identified three Roman poets quoted by participants in the constitutional debates of 1787–1790—Ovid, Horace, and Virgil. The essay explained why Virgil ...
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The Whig (Libertarian) Heritage of America
By: Dan Sanchez Should America embrace libertarianism? Many would regard such a prospect as recklessly experimental. This is partly because they regard libertarianism as some crackpot scheme cooked up in the ...
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