If you did not know your own birthday, when would you celebrate it? No one knows the date Frederick Douglass was born. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, his first autobiography, Douglass writes: “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. . . . A…
For those of you who have taken our “Constitution 101” course, you know that the early twentieth-century Progressives explicitly rejected the Founders’ political principles. Woodrow Wilson, for example, contended that the Constitution stood in the way of social progress. It was not equipped to meet the new social and economic challenges besetting modern industrial society….
For many years, it’s been commonplace for commentators on the American Founding to dismiss the Founders as racist defenders of slavery. It’s often referred to as America’s “original sin,” and “The 1619 Project” is only the latest entry from this cottage industry. But those arguments are based on a false narrative about the Founders. As…
Today marks the 231st anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. Whenever we talk about rights, we tend to point back to these first ten amendments to the Constitution that define specific rights. The regulation of speech on social media platforms has led to critics claiming a violation of their First Amendment right…
Upon his death on November 14, 1915, Booker T. Washington was the preeminent leader of the African American community. He is best known for his work in support of industrial education. Washington thought that success in trade work would play a key role in the elevation of African Americans in society. W.E.B. Du Bois, Washington’s…
In our new online course, “The Real American Founding: A Conversation,” Dr. Thomas G. West names some of his favorite members of the Founding generation, including a couple that do not have the name recognition of a George Washington, a Thomas Jefferson, or an Alexander Hamilton. One of these underappreciated “second-tier” Founders is Zephaniah Swift,…
In Boston on January 26, 1865, Frederick Douglass delivered one of his most enduring speeches, “What the Black Man Wants.” He told the gathered crowd, [I]n regard to the colored people, there is always more that is benevolent, I perceive, than just, manifested towards us. What I ask for the negro is not benevolence, not…
As Americans head to the polls for today’s midterm elections, there’s a lot on their minds. Inflation, employment, housing, crime, abortion, and immigration are just a few of their concerns. There always seems to be hope that a change in congressional leadership can spark economic renewal. Recent polls suggest that as many as half a…
No single book is more essential to understanding the U.S. Constitution than The Federalist Papers. Exactly 235 years ago today, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay first began publishing these essays in New York newspapers under the pseudonym “Publius” in order to champion the ratification of the Constitution by explaining its distinctive features. Today…
On October 3, the Supreme Court of the United States kicked off its October 2022 Term. Each year, the Court sits for its first case hearings in October and will continue hearing cases through the spring of the following year, issuing opinions as cases are decided anytime between now and next summer. The Court’s docket…