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The American Idea

The American Idea

by Ashbrook Center

Education History

Season 7

A Sober View of Human Nature: Federalist 10 and Factions

In Federalist 10, James Madison identified what he saw as one of the greatest dangers to popular government: factions. How did he define and understand them? Does his definition and his argument still stand up today? How can, by understanding the view on this issue at the Founding, better understand our current politics? Read Federalist 10: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/federalist-no-10-3/ Read Madison’s “Consolidation”: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/consolidation/ Read Madison’s “A Candid State of Parties”: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/a-candid-state-of-parties-2/ Read Joe’s article on political parties: https://www.heritage.org/political-process/report/the-rise-and-fall-political-parties-america Find American Covenant on Amazon: https://a.co/d/00voBuXV Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/ Thank you for being part of The American Idea community. Click to learn about how we're planning for America's 250th birthday! https://www.ashbrookfreedom250.org/ Follow on Twitter https://x.com/amideapodcast Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ashbrookcenter/

More than a Document: Living the Declaration of Independence

The ideals, values, and aspirations in the Declaration of Independence aren’t just the words of an old document - they’re a statement of political and public faith in how we should see one another and how we should conduct ourselves as a political body. In preparation for America’s 250th birthday, don’t just focus on the years and accomplishments - get in touch with the ideas that underpin them, and consider how you can live out the Declaration of Independence, and encourage others, as well, so that we can bequeath another 250 years of freedom to the generations that follow us. Read the Declaration of Independence: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/declaration-of-independence/ Read Calvin Coolidge's speech about the DI: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/speech-on-the-occasion-of-the-one-hundred-and-fiftieth-anniversary-of-the-declaration-of-independence/ Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/

Season 6

Our Right to Privacy and the 4th Amendment

Our 4th Amendment rights to privacy, in various forms, has its origins before the Declaration of Independence, and is at the foundation of Americans’ understanding of natural rights. In this episode, Dr. Cara Rogers-Stevens discusses the importance and evolution of our privacy rights, and how they set us apart from so many other peoples in the world. Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/

Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations at 250 Years

Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” was published in 1776, shortly before America’s Declaration of Independence. Smith famously described an “invisible hand” at work behind markets and exchanges, but what did he really mean, and how have so many people misunderstood his many ideas about trade, markets, and free enterprise? Professor Brianne Wolf discusses Smith in surprising terms: he was first concerned with human morality and behavior, in the connections and community that individuals built with one another. Trade and economics were downstream of those fundamentals. Beyond that, Smith’s explanation of the advantages of markets over central planning or forced commerce are not well-known today - despite their relevance in the face of arguments in favor of government control of economic behavior. Would you like to give us some feedback about this episode? Go to this short survey: https://tinyurl.com/ym6zktkk Read Bri's article on Smith: https://tinyurl.com/5yuwsc9b Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/

Returning to First Principles: America's Machiavellian Moment?

Niccolo Machiavelli, is usually cast as something of a villain for supposedly promoting cut-throat politics. Regarded as the father of modern political theory and science, however, among his many ideas was that when regimes - governments - slip into a state of decline, a return to first principles was necessary to save them. Turning back to the ideas that were most pure at a founding was, he believed, essential to revive a country that had lost its way. Is America at such a point today? Political theorist, commentator, and author Jay Cost believes we are, and discusses what a “Machiavellian Moment” is, and why America, especially as we approach our 250th birthday, is in need of one. Read his article: https://tinyurl.com/3ytfx3fb Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/

Religious Liberty at the Founding and Today

Religious liberty is at the foundation of the American Idea - but how was it understood and protected at America’s Founding, and how what does this fundamental right look like today? Jeff and Dr. Vincent Phillip Munoz, of Notre Dame University, discuss the earliest state of religious freedom, and how it has evolved today. Read the Virginia Declaration of Rights: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/virginia-declaration-of-rights-2/ Read the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/virginia-statute-for-religious-liberty/ Read Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/letter-to-the-hebrew-congregation-at-newport/ Read JFK’s Speech to the Houston Ministerial Association: https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/historic-speeches/address-to-the-greater-houston-ministerial-association Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/

The Voting Rights Act and the Callais Supreme Court Decision - Context and Analysis

The United States Supreme Court handed down its decision on Louisiana v. Callais in early May, and it’s impossible to understand this 6-3 ruling without having some background knowledge of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and how courts between then and now have interpreted it. Don’t get lost in the political rhetoric surrounding this case; learn the background for yourself and make up your own mind. Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/

School Choice: The Past, Present, and Future of a Movement

School choice has moved to the forefront of national conversations and debates most notably since COVID; however the ‘educational choice’ movement is not new in America at all. Jeff is joined by Shaka Mitchell, Senior Fellow at the American Federation for Children, to trace the history of school choice and schooling in America, drawing clear policy, political, and cultural connections between what was, what has been, and what is ‘normal’ now, and how that’s changing. You can follow Shaka on his Substack: https://shakamitchell.substack.com/ Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/

"Mischievous Cousins' - A British Perspective on the American Revolution

What’s taught in British schools about the American Revolution? How are Americans’ motivations during the Founding understood by our ‘cousins’ on the other side of the Atlantic? Jeff discusses the fascinating history of British history and perspectives on America with Liam Heffernan, host of America: The Story of the USA, a British podcast that seeks to explain American to the British. You can find Liam's pod at https://tinyurl.com/puysecxp Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/

From 1776 to Civil Rights: How the Declaration Shaped the Struggle for Equality

The Abolition and Civil Rights movements are often presented as solutions to the failures of the American Founding, or replacements for its ideas. The relationship between the core ideas of America, as asserted in the Declaration of Independence and those of these two movements is complicated and has evolved over time. As we approach our 250th birthday, let’s take a look at how the Declaration is, in fact, the moral and intellectual foundation of both abolition and civil rights. Jeff is joined by Dr. Peter Myers, Professor of Political Science and expert in the politics of abolition and civil rights. Read Peter's book on Douglass: https://a.co/d/0b1TiSI3 Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton On Apple Podcasts: https://tr.ee/aTARALr9Gx On Spotify: https://tr.ee/09Ca21CCp- On iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-american-idea-119582945/

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