History

Turning Points in American Liberty

ABSTRACT

The conference explored the continuities of and changes to the idea of liberty in America through major turning points as illustrated in prominent public addresses and documents from the colonial era to the present.

READING LIST

From Liberty Fund

The Federalist

by By Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison
Edited by George W. Carey and James McClellan

The Federalist, by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, constitutes a text central to the American political tradition. Written and published in newspapers in 1787 and 1788 to explain and promote ratification of the proposed Constitution for the United States, which were then bound by the Articles of Confederation,…

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Additional Readings

Zuckert, Michael P. and Derek A. Webb, eds. The Anti-Federalist Writings of the Melancton Smith Circle. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2009.

Narratives of Early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey, and Delaware, 1630-1707. Edited by Albert Cook Myers. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912.

Bryan, William Jennings, “Cross of Gold Speech (before the Democratic National Convention, 1896)” In The American Nation: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 215-218. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2002.

Calhoun, John C., “Speech on the Slavery Question (1850)” In The American Republic: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 600-613. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., 2002.

Carnegie, Andrew, “The Gospel of Wealth (1889)” In The American Nation: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 209-214. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., 2002.

Debs, Eugene V., “The Socialist Party and the Working Class (1904)” In The American Nation: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 339-346. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2002.

Douglass, Frederick. “Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country (1847).” TeachingAmericanHistory.org. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/american-slavery/ (Accessed October 19, 2016).

Downer, Silas, “A Discourse at the Dedication of the Tree of Liberty (1768)” In The American Republic: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 140-145. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2002.

Franklin, Benjamin. “The Way to Wealth [1757] .” TeachingAmericanHistory.org. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-way-to-wealth/ (Accessed October 19, 2016).

Hayne, Robert Y., “Speech of Mr. Hayne (from the Webster-Hayne Debate—Senate speeches delivered in 1830)” In The American Republic: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 548-564. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2002.

Jefferson, Thomas, “First lnaugural (1801)” In The Sacred Rights of Conscience: Selected Readings on Religious Liberty and Church-State Relations in the American Founding, edited by Daniel L. Dreisbach and Mark David Hall, 449-452. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., 2002.

Jefferson, Thomas, “The Declaration of Independence (1776)” In The American Republic: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 189-191. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2002.

Lincoln, Abraham, “The Gettysburg Address (1863)” In The American Nation: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 56. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., 2002.

Lincoln, Abraham and Jefferson Davis, “First Inaugural Address of Jefferson Davis (1861) and First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln (1861)” In The American Nation: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 31-38. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., 2002.

Lincoln, Abraham and Stephen Douglas, “The Fifth Lincoln-Douglas Debate (1858 debate on the campus of Knox College in Illinois)” In The American Republic: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 702-721. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., 2002.

Obama, Barack. “Remarks by President Obama on the Economy in Osawatomie, Kansas.” The White House, United States Government. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/06/remarks-president-economy-osawatomie-kansas (Accessed October 19, 2016).

Obama, Barack H. “Renewing American Leadership: Common Security for Our Common Humanity.” Foreign Affairs 86, no. 4 (July/August 2007): 2-16.

Reagan, Ronald. “First Inaugural Address (1981).” TeachingAmericanHistory.org. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/first-inaugural-address-6/ (Accessed October 19, 2016).

Reagan, Ronald. “Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin (’Tear Down This Wall’ speech, June 12, 1987).” TeachingAmericanHistory.org. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/speech-at-brandenburg-gate/ (Accessed October 19, 2016).

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, “First Inaugural Address (1933) and Annual Message to Congress ’The Four Freedoms’ (1941)” In The American Nation: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 438-440 and 564-568. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., 2002.

Roosevelt, Theodore. “First Annual Message to Congress (December 3, 1901).” TeachingAmericanHistory.org. http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=940 (Accessed October 19, 2016).

Roosevelt, Theodore. “The New Nationalism.” Dedication of the John Brown Memorial Park, Osawatomie, Kansas, August 31, 1910.

Shaw, Anna Howard, “The Fundamental Principle of a Republic (1915)” In The American Nation: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 383-391. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc., 2002.

Washington, George, “Farewell Address (1796)” In The American Republic: Primary Sources, edited by Bruce P. Frohnen, 72-78. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2002.

Williams, Roger, “The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, for Cause of Conscience (1644)” In The Sacred Rights of Conscience: Selected Readings on Religious Liberty and Church-State Relations in the American Founding, edited by Daniel L. Dreisbach and Mark David Hall, 146-155. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2009.

Wilson, Woodrow. The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1913. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-new-freedom/ (accessed October 19, 2016).

Winthrop, John, “A Model of Christian Charitie” (1630) and “Little Speech on Liberty (1645)” In The Sacred Rights of Conscience: Selected Readings on Religious Liberty and Church-State Relations in the American Founding, edited by Daniel L. Dreisbach and Mark David Hall, 123-132. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2009.