History
Resist Them: Samuel Adams and the Forgotten Duty of a Free People
“Resist them.” Nearly five years before the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams demanded that the people resist arbitrary power, warning them that the alternative was to tamely submit, sit idly by, and hope for the best – a recipe for total tyranny. For...
Vergil: Poet Laureate of the American Founding
The reverse side of the dollar bill reproduces the Great Seal of the United States. On the left is the back of the seal. It features two Latin phrases. Annuit coeptis means “He [i.e., God] has approved our undertakings.” It is an abbreviation of a line from a prayer...
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....