What are the final implications of the political example of Abraham Lincoln? And what the enduring consequences of his sanctification as our only Father and preceptor in times of national crisis? The “House Divided Speech” is the watershed of Abraham Lincoln’s political career.[56] In this address, given to the Republican state convention that nominated their tall [...]
In the confusion and chaos of the American Founding, we should rejoice. The messiness sharpened the best of its aspects while dulling the worst. A few years ago, I was witness to a lecture in which the lecturer claimed that those who voted against the Constitution in the ratification process should no longer be considered [...]
James Madison has long been treated as a neutral authority on early American history, a kind of Great Sage of, among other things, the U.S. Constitution. Thus, in a notable book on the ratification campaign of 1787-90—during which the states agreed to live under the Philadelphia Convention’s handiwork—a prominent historian said that the best way [...]
Who indeed knows the secret of the earthly pilgrimage? Who indeed knows why there can be comfort in a world of desolation? Now God be thanked that there is a beloved one who can lift up the heart in suffering, that one can play with a child in the face of such misery. Now God [...]
There are many ways in which the freedoms that we have taken for granted are being taken away from us. One of the most egregious is the way in which the rise of globalism has led to the ongoing erosion of national sovereignty. Does this matter? Are nations really necessary in an increasingly globalized economy? [...]
Editor's Note: Alexander Hamilton delivered the following speech in support of the Constitution to the New York Ratifying Convention on June 24, 1788. I am persuaded, Mr. Chairman, that I in my turn shall be indulged in addressing the committee. We all, in equal sincerity, profess to be anxious for the establishment of a republican [...]
By now, countless articles have been written on Brexit. But what implications does Brexit have for the United States? In answering this question, I do not want to focus on whether Brexit was a good idea or not. It’s far too soon to tell. Instead, I will consider whether the decision procedure for Brexit—the referendum—was [...]
Russell Kirk’s greatest gift to American political thought is his brilliant articulation and cultivation of a rich cultural patrimony that helps define the meaning of our most cherished ideals from within a context that is both historically textured and open to the transcendental. Since the nation’s founding, a salutary tension has informed American political thought—a [...]
We’ve been conditioned to believe that it is experts like Hillary Clinton and James Comey who maintain the social conditions necessary for our health and happiness. We are all now familiar with the decision by FBI Director James Comey not to seek an indictment against Hillary Clinton for her email scandal. In his announcement, not [...]
You will be walking some night in the comfortable dark of your yard and suddenly a great light will shine round about you, and behind you will be a wall you never saw before. It will be clear to you suddenly that you were about to escape, and that you are guilty: you misread the [...]
The path to the adoption of the Constitution wasn’t smooth. A number of arguments and cautions against the Constitution were offered in the months preceding its adoption. Many of these arguments are chronicled in The Anti-Federalist Papers, a collection of disparate writings of Anti-Federalist authors (many of whom used pen names), edited by scholar Ralph [...]
“We are at the beginning of great troubles.” Once upon a time, it was the assumption of most of the people in the world that the fundamental constitutions of their society would endure to the end of time; or at least for a very great while; or certainly for the lifetime of those who had [...]
A recent essay published by The Imaginative Conservative asserted, somewhat pessimistically, that “progressivism will win.” Without wishing to engage that particular essay, I’d like to argue that progressivism is actually doomed to lose. Perhaps, however, and as is always wise, we should define what we mean by “progressivism.” […]
As a promising young centralist, Abraham Lincoln played the role of champion for what Professor Michael Oakeshott has called the “enterprise association” theory of the state.[21] While serving as the elected representative of Sangamon (1834—1842), he first made a name for himself by enacting this part. Joining with other soon-to-be forefathers of the Republican Party, [...]