Articles & Commentary

The phrase is among the most quoted in American history — and among the most misunderstood. A close reading of Jefferson's sources, his drafts, and the debates of 1776 reveals a richer and more demanding argument than the slogan suggests.

Written in ten months to persuade New York to ratify the Constitution, the 85 Federalist Papers remain the most authoritative guide to what the Constitution means and why it was designed the way it was.

In 703 words, delivered on March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln offered the most profound meditation on the meaning of the Civil War — and on the nature of divine justice — that any American president has ever given.

Washington was not a theologian, and he was careful about doctrinal statements. But his letters and speeches reveal a man who believed deeply that republican government required a moral and religious citizenry.

The first ten amendments were not added to the Constitution because the Founders loved rights. They were added because the Founders feared power — and they had good reasons, drawn from their own experience, to fear it.

The Founders were not all orthodox Christians, but they were all shaped by a culture saturated in Scripture. Understanding the biblical roots of American political thought is essential to understanding the republic itself.

From the Mayflower Compact to Lincoln's Second Inaugural, Americans have understood their national story in providential terms. What does that tradition mean — and what does it demand of us?

The summer of 1787 in Philadelphia was not a smooth triumph of statesmanship. It was four months of argument, deadlock, and near-collapse — and the Constitution that emerged was a document of hard-won compromise.

The Founders did not invent the idea of natural law — they inherited it from centuries of philosophical and theological tradition. Understanding that tradition is the key to understanding what the Constitution was meant to protect.

The First Amendment is among the most invoked and least understood provisions in the Constitution. A careful reading of its history reveals that it was designed to protect something far more specific — and far more demanding — than most Americans realize.