Tag: american revolution
The Declaration of Independence says we have the right to overthrow the government
May 12, 2023 | Post
The right to overthrow a government remains an important principle to uphold, as it serves as a check on government power. It is a reminder that governments exist to serve the people, not the other way around. The possibility of revolution also serves as a deterrent against abuses of power and as a last resort when all other avenues have failed.
The Gadsden flag: a historic symbol rooted in classical liberalism
July 29, 2022 | Post
Those who care about the ideas of liberty represented by the Gadsden flag must resist its co-option by forces that are completely at odds with what it stands for. The truth about its classical liberal origins must prevail.
Mercy Otis Warren: Conscience of Great Causes
March 25, 2017 | Post
Two centuries before “women’s lib,” in the run-up to America’s Revolutionary War, Mercy Otis Warren was already a liberated woman by the standards of her day. And she did the liberating herself. In the latter half of the 18th century, Warren was an accomplished poet, playwright, pamphleteer, and historian — though much of what she […]
A Closer Look at the Taxes That Led to America’s Founding
July 8, 2016 | Post
When we left the colonists in the first installment of America’s Founding, the British Empire had begun taxing Americans for the purpose of retaining its vast military power. But the colonists viewed the very military they were funding with ire, as soldiers often treated the colonists with disregard. In the latest installment of this series, Professor […]
Why the American Revolution Was Really an Economic Revolution
July 7, 2016 | Post
Political slogans tend to obscure more than they enlighten. Barack Obama’s 2008 call for “Change We Need,” for example, turned out to mean almsgiving rather than substantive policy reform. Similarly, the American Revolution’s most famous slogan, “No taxation without representation,” failed to capture the essence of what colonists sought, or what, as freemen, they soon […]
What to Reflect On This Independence Day
July 4, 2016 | Post
On the Fourth of July, we are celebrating 240 years of American independence. In light of that anniversary, we should take a few moments and reflect on the meaning of that day and the idea of America. The idea of America was a consensus around the belief in individual liberty and a government by the […]