John Devanny

About John Devanny

John Devanny holds a Ph.D. in American History from the University of South Carolina, and he has written for several publications. He has taught classes on history, literature, and economics.

“Poison Under Its Wings”: The Constitution and Its Defects

By John Devanny|2020-01-01T00:00:05-06:00January 1st, 2020|Categories: Alexander Hamilton, American Founding, American Republic, Constitution, Freedom, Patrick Henry|

The plan for government that came from the Philadelphia convention was what Patrick Henry referred to as a beautiful butterfly with “poison under its wings.” The parchment barriers erected against monarchy and consolidation, he held, would only be as effective as the force backing them. The beginning of the American political order goes much [...]

John Randolph of Roanoke & the Formation of a Southern Conservatism

By John Devanny|2019-05-23T22:19:37-06:00May 23rd, 2019|Categories: American Founding, Civil Society, Conservatism, Economics, History, John Randolph of Roanoke, South|

John Randolph of Roanoke, one of the great exponents of the Southern political tradition, knew that what was proper to any state government was the preservation of the received order. The duty of the citizen of the commonwealth was to resist any legislative or constitutional changes to the received order, and to grant a [...]