ISIL Freedom Network: United States > Introductions and FAQs > American Founding Fathers and Freedom in History

The Declaration of Independence
Source: FoundingFathers.info
Author: Thomas Jefferson
Country: United States

The libertarian document that founded America.

The Constitution of the United States of America
Source: FoundingFathers.info
Country: United States

It ain't what it used to be. Nevertheless, we can appreciate the Constitution for what it once was. After all, it kept America free for over a hundred years.

Cleveland's Second Inaugural Address
Source: Bartleby.com
Author: Grover Cleveland
Country: United States

Cleveland, that great unsung hero of American history, here lays out his support for sound money and his firm opposition to the use of the federal government for the advancement of individual benefit. (1893)

The right to revolution
Source: Charley Reese
Author: Charley Reese
Country: United States

"So whenever Americans see a lot of abuses and usurpations of their rights that show a pattern of intending to place them under a non-free government, they not only have the right but the duty to throw that government off." (07/02/02)

Martin Van Buren: The Greatest American President
Source: Independent Institute
Author: Jeffrey Rogers Hummel
Country: United States

Van Buren is "arguably the president most responsible for the freedoms enjoyed by the American people." (12/99)

The War Inevitable
Source: Ken Holder's American Documents Page
Author: Patrick Henry (1736-1799)
Country: United States

Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech to the 1775 Virginia Convention.

The legitimate role of government in a free society
Source: Imprimis
Author: Walter E. Williams
Country: United States

What did the American founders view as the legitimate role of government in a free society, and how did they embed this view in the Constitution? Walter Williams, chair of the George Mason University economics department, explains. (8/00)

The Forgotten Principles of American Government
Source: Texas Public Policy Foundation
Author: Daniel Bonevac
Country: United States

Bonevac analyzes how far the United States has strayed from the philosophy on which it was founded – a philosophy of representative, democratic, limited government.

The greatest American who was never president
Source: Backwoods Home Magazine
Country: United States

This folksy piece discusses George Mason who, though relatively unknown today, was revered among the founders and played an enormous role in creating the Bill of Rights. (11/2/99)

Don't tread on me: the rattlesnake as a symbol of American independence
Source: Interesting.com
Country: United States
E-mail: chris@interesting.com

When it comes to symbolizing freedom and the spirit of '76, nothing tops the yellow "Gadsden" flag with the coiled rattlesnake. There's also an interesting history behind this flag. By Chris Whitten, chair of the Hazlitt Foundation's board of directors. (07/01)

No more great presidents
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
Author: Robert Higgs
Country: United States

By current standards, a "great" president is one who runs roughshod over personal liberty and constitutional limits. (3/97)

Jefferson in perspective
Source: LibertyStory
Author: Jim Powell
Country: United States

Although Thomas Jefferson might still be the most beloved Founder among the general public, historians have been hammering him.

The fate of the signers of the Declaration of Independence
Source: Victor Taylor
Country: United States

Taylor, a Pennsylvania-based teacher of history among other subjects, takes a look at popular stories about the fate of the signers. While he finds some distortions, he confirms that the signers put their fortunes, homes, liberty and lives on the line -- and some lost everything. (6/30/00)

The Liberty Pole
Source: KeepAndBearArms.com
Author: John Rich
Country: United States
E-mail: johnrrich@compuserve.com

This short article tells the tale behind the Liberty Pole, which was erected in small towns and under which American revolutionaries met to plan their resistance to British tyranny.

Booker T. Washington
Source: Acton Institute
Country: United States

Washington thought that inculcating the values of individual responsibility, the dignity of work, and the need for enduring moral and spiritual character were the best means for former slaves to assume their rightful place in America. And the best way to do this, he argued, was to encourage business, industry, and entrepreneurialism, and not through political agitation.

Profile: Isaac Backus (1724-1806)
Source: Acton Institute
Country: United States

Often ranked with Roger Williams, John Leland, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, Isaac Backus is one of the "preeminent figures in the establishing of freedom of conscience in America." (2000)

Brief profile of Charles Carroll (1737-1832)
Source: Acton Institute
Country: United States

When the signatories of the Declaration of Independence pledged their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor," few men had more to lose than Charles Carroll of Carrollton. ... Yet when asked if he would sign or not, he replied, "Most willingly," and ratified what he called "this record of glory."

The man who could have been king
Source: Strike the Root
Author: George F. Smith
Country: United States

"[W]ith the British determined to crush the rebellion, our inalienable rights needed someone willing to fight for them on the battlefield. Fortunately for all of us, we had such a man in George Washington." (02/23/02)

Jefferson on American Liberty
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
Author: Gary M. Galles
Country: United States

"Thomas Jefferson once asked the seminal question, 'Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others?' Our founding documents were designed, in part by his hand, to answer that question for America." (07/04/02)

The Declaration of Independence (Revised)
Source: LewRockwell.com
Author: Gary North
Country: United States

"The document was written to serve as a statement of causes that justified secession ... The problem with this document today is that it is politically incorrect. Therefore, very few students are asked to read it. Furthermore, there is little doubt that it would be regarded by the American court system as illegal." (07/04/02)

Neocons are the real Americans
Source: Strike the Root
Author: John Bottoms
Country: United States

"With the exception of the radical heroes of American independence, our national history is that of conquest, theft and empire. Those of us who love freedom and loathe the state should understand that our goal must be not to recapture the past, but to create a future that the world has never known." (02/07/02)

History of the Constitution
Source: National Archives
Country: United States

A brief history of the creation of the Constitution.

Studying History: A Defense of Heroes With Warts
Source: Home Education Learning Magazine
Author: Cathy Henderson
Country: United States
E-mail: HELM@helmonline.com

Henderson offers a discussion of topics regarding the recent media attention to Thomas Jefferson's personal life, "perfect" heroes, and how studying history can improve our understanding of the inherent problems with government schooling.

A firebrand scorches colonial Virginia
Source: Strike the Root
Author: George F Smith
Country: United States

"The man of 'Give me liberty or give me death!' fame was once lost among the obscure. Like Thomas Paine and Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry had failed at just about everything early in life, including farming and running a store." Interesting background on Patrick Henry. (10/30/03)

The true flag of freedom
Source: Strike the Root
Author: Don Hull
Country: United States

"The old 'Don't Tread on Me' flag is the Flag of Freedom ..." The stars and stripes has become the flag of big government, representing the American Empire. (05/30/02)

James Madison (1751-1836)
Source: Acton Institute
Country: United States

"Perhaps more than any other member of the founding generation, Madison played a major role in forming America's political institutions. Often called the Father of the Constitution, Madison helped design the architecture of the United States Constitution and then helped defend it, in collaboration with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay."

Timeline for American colonization (1000-1764)
Source: Founding Fathers
Country: United States

An interesting overview of American discovery and colonization from Henry William Elson's early 20th-century "History of the United States of America." Timeline covers from Leif Ericson's discovery of New England in 1000 to the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Lots of links to resources from key dates in history.

To recommend changes in this directory, e-mail isil@isil.org.

	Search WWW Search ISIL