Patrick Henry’s Warning on “Implied Authority”
Patrick Henry’s impassioned remarks during the final days of the Virginia Ratifying Convention were the culmination of week-long arguments between skeptics of the proposed Constitution and its supporters, such as James Madison. In modern context, it is easy at first...
Thomas Paine, Abolitionist
As many of us realize, the political establishment of 2022 never passes up an opportunity to describe liberty-oriented ideas as “extreme,” and those who espouse them as “extremists.” Well, in 1774, there was nothing more extreme than a belief in the abolition of...
The 1859 Oberlin Trial: A Victory for the Higher Law
Months prior to John Brown’s infamous 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry, a trial took place rooted in the same issues of slavery and federal enforcement that, while ultimately inconsequential in shaping future debate, is a historical event worth remembering. The incident...