American Founding

July 08, 2026

America Is Exceptional Because It Is Not Radical

“A republic, if you can keep it” was Ben Franklin’s famous answer when asked what kind of government the framers created at the Constitutional Convention. The founders were men of ideas, but they also took history, democratic practice, politics, and the reality of the human person seriously. Continue Reading...

January 20, 2025

Pushing 250: Keeping an American Republic

As we look toward an inauguration on January 20, I think of Robert Altman’s movie Nashville (1975) and its leadoff song: “We must be doing something right to last 200 years.” Continue Reading...

November 27, 2024

How Trade Saved the Pilgrims, and the U.S.

By now the Pilgrims’ disastrous experiment with collectivism in Plymouth, Massachusetts, is well-known, in free market circles if not among the young. The story has been printed and popularized – Rush Limbaugh even recites it annually on his radio program. Continue Reading...

October 03, 2024

What Will Americans Celebrate in 2026?

As we approach the 250th anniversary of American independence in 2026, what exactly will Americans be celebrating? The 1619 Project rejects 1776 as an important moment in the history of liberty. Continue Reading...