Founding Fathers
American Cincinnatus: A Victorious General Refuses a Crown
On December 4, 1783, at Fraunces Tavern, the popular public house located at the corner of Pearl and Broad Streets in Manhattan, General George Washington delivered the first of his many farewells. The parties with American dignitaries were finished, the hands of...
The Republic was not Kept: Benjamin Franklin’s Constitution Day Prediction
“A republic … if you can keep it” September 17, 1787 – the day the constitution was signed. We all know Benjamin Franklin’s famous line. But he wasn’t warning us about the government. He wasn’t even warning about the constitution....
No Obedience is Due: The Suffolk Resolves of 1774
“No obedience is due from this province to either or any part of the acts above-mentioned, but that they be rejected as the attempts of a wicked administration to enslave America.” Today in history – September 9, 1774 – from the Suffolk Resolves, drafted...
Thomas Paine’s Forgotten Paper Money Takedown
“Money is Money, and Paper is Paper. All the invention of man cannot make them otherwise.” With those words, Thomas Paine went after what he saw as one of the greatest scams in history: governments claiming that paper is money. Through a series of...