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President Obama was sworn into office on Sunday just before noon, officially beginning another four-year term. “I did it,” Obama said to the first lady, new bangs and all and his two daughters Sasha and Malia. Meet America'f first five presidents
On this day in 1789, America's first presidential election is held. Voters cast ballots to choose state electors.
Only white men who owned property were allowed to vote. As expected, George Washington won the election—John Adamscame in second and became the first vice president and was sworn into office on April 30, 1789. Here is how Washington’s swearing in in was depicted in the HBO mini-series “John Adams”
Just in time for the Christmas Holiday—the perfect gift for the specialty beer—lover on your Christmas list or the host of the Christmas party you’re attending.
The Right Website For Our Times and a Staunch Advocate of Essential Liberty
Here at The Franklin Independent Journal” (FIJ) we are steadfast and loyal readers of “The Patriot Post” and we would like to introduce our readers to this outstanding website which to a great degree mirrors our goals at FIJ. If you like the content at FIJ we believe that you too, will soon become a regular reader of “The Patriot Post.”
"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissention, which in different ages & countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders & miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security & repose in the absolute power of an Individual: and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty."
An interesting custom in colonial America, mostly in New England, was what colonists called "Election Day Sermons." Before every major election, a wise and respected representative of the people, usually a clergyman would offer advice to the people about the upcoming privilege of choosing their elected officials and would remind voters of the sacred duty they have in preserving liberty by only choosing those who reflected the ideals and values which made America great.
It began in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634 and continued until 1884. The tradition spread to Connecticut in 1674, to Vermont in 1778, and to New Hampshire in 1784. It was called Election Day, although there were no elections on that day. Instead, public officials were installed in their offices in a manner similar to our contemporary Inauguration Day. It was one of the few public holidays in pre-revolutionary America. Stores and schools closed and the day was marked with parades, picnics, and an Election Day sermon delivered to the officials by a distinguished minister. In Massachusetts, the Election Day sermon was initially delivered in May in Boston’s First Church and after 1658, in the Boston Town House. According to Harry Stout in his book “The New England Soul,” the audience consisted of the “magistrates who represented the oligarchy, the deputies who represented the democracy, and the ministers who represented the theocracy.” Once Massachusetts became a commonwealth, the sermon was delivered to the governor and members of the legislature.
The sermons would usually be given in churches, since that is where the largest congregations of people would be assembled, and it reflected the role of the clergy in warning the people of dangerous trends in society. Here are selections from some of those sermons.
In a world rife with moral confusion and corrupt, arbitrary and unlimited government, America's Founding Principles still remain our best access to permanent truths and the best ground from which to question the current direction of our nation. In this video, join Matt Spalding, author of “We Still Hold These Truths” and an authority on American political thought and religious liberty at The Heritage Foundation, as he highlights some everyday Americans on a journey to reclaim our future.
We The People - The Last Line of Defense
We, as citizens, are ultimately responsible for the survival of our republic.
The Future of Democracy in America
The Founding Fathers knew well the kind of government they were trying to avoid, but could only project what their own experiment in government would become. They based this projection on their analysis of governments in the past, on principles derived from natural rights, and on an assessment of the nature of man. Thomas Jefferson always maintained a great faith in the American people and their capacity for self-government. The success of the Founding Fathers' experiment certainly attests to their wisdom and genius.
"[When] corruption... has prevailed in those offices (of) government and (has) so familiarized itself as those men otherwise honest could look on it without horror... (then we must) be alive to the suppression of their odious practice and ...bring punishment and brand with eternal disgrace every man guilty of it, whatever his station."—Thomas Jefferson in a letter to W.C.C. Claiborne, 1804.
DO YOU STILL HOLD THESE TRUTHS? THE TIME TO CHOOSE IS AT HAND.
“To preserve ... independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude."
—Thomas Jefferson in letter to Samuel Kercheval, June 12, 1816
We were concerned about the path of “Super Storm” Sandy and whether it might have damaged or destroyed irreplacable historical treasures on the east coast, especially those in the states that made up the 13 original colonies.
Today we received an email from the Thomas Jefferson Foundation which stated:
Some of you have asked how Monticello fared during Hurricane Sandy, so I thought I would send an update.
We didn't lose any of our old trees, and there was no damage to the house, which has withstood more than two hundred years of inclement weather.
We are in much better shape than expected, but our thoughts are with people who suffered serious damage and many of whom are still without power.
Thanks again for the good thoughts. We hope to see you up on the mountaintop soon!
Sincerely,
Leslie G. Bowman
President and CEO of Monticello
Thanks again for the good thoughts. We hope to see you up on the mountaintop soon!
Welcome to part 9 of our 10-part lecture series produced by Hillsdale College entitled “Constitution 201.”
Each lecture lasts approximately 40 minutes. Lectures and other study materials will be included and are available to our readers. We expect to present all 10 parts before Election Day.
Each lecture lasts approximately 40 minutes. Lectures and other study materials will be included and are available to our readers. We expect to present all 10 parts before Election Day.
Overview
Post-1960s Progressivism has steadily eroded religious liberty and the freedom of association in America. Measures such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) and many anti-discrimination laws express a new understanding of rights that rejects the Founders’ view of religious liberty and the freedom of private associations to govern themselves. Recent Progressivism follows the early Progressive belief that effective freedom requires government to redistribute resources in order to provide equal access to the goods that promote mental development and that make life comfortable. This redistributive agenda is combined with a new emphasis on the empowerment of victim groups, sexual liberation, and an aversion to traditional Christianity and Judaism that requires government intervention in the internal affairs of private organizations. Religious liberty today is divorced from the freedom of association and the free exercise of religion, which the Founders understood to be essential for a free society.
Thomas G. West is the Paul and Dawn Potter Professor of Politics at Hillsdale College, where he has taught since 2011. Dr. West teaches courses in American politics, with a focus on the U.S. Constitution, civil rights, foreign policy, and the political thought of the American founding. He also teaches course in political philosophy, with particular emphasis on Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke.
Prior to joining the faculty at Hillsdale, Dr. West was Professor of Politics at the University of Dallas, where he taught from 1974 to 2011. Formerly a visiting scholar at the Heritage Foundation and at Claremont McKenna College, Dr. West is a senior fellow of the Claremont Institute, where he teaches in the Institute’s Publius and Lincoln Fellows summer programs. He is the author of the best-selling "Vindicating the Founders": Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins of America, and co-translator of Four Texts on Socrates: Plato’s Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, and Aristophanes’ Clouds, of which there are more than 180,000 copies in print. He received his B.A. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate University.
SUGGESTED READINGS
NOTE: all readings link to Hillsdale's online Constitution Reader, also available at ConstitutionReader.com.
Next week we will bring you “Restoring Constitutional Government,” the tenth and final lecture in Hillsdale College’s “Constitution 201, “Restoring Constitutional Government,” presented by Hillsdale College president, Dr. Larry P. Arnn. Your comments on this series are welcome.
ALEXANDER HAMILTONToday marks the 225th anniversary of The Federalist—the series of essays that helped make our Constitution a reality. Historians generally agree that the Federalist’s likely chief architect was founder Alexander Hamilton, thereby making Hamilton our “founding blogger” along with coauthors James Madison, and John Jay.
Better known today as The Federalist Papers, these essays caused a sensation when they started appearing in October 1787, as a response to a rival set of essays.
JOHN ADAMS & THOMAS JEFFERSONNegative campaigning in America was fathered by two lifelong friends, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. In 1776, the dynamic duo combined powers to help claim America's independence, and they had nothing but love and respect for one another. But by 1800, party politics had so distanced the men that, for the first and only time in U.S. history, a president (Adams) found himself running against his vice president.
Things got ugly very quickly when Jefferson's camp accused President Adams of having a "hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force nor firmness of neither a man or the gentleness and sensibility of a woman."
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams are said to have thrown the first mud at each other in the presidential election of 1800.
Jefferson accused his old pal — of being a fool, a hypocrite, a criminal and a tyrant.
Adams returned fire, calling his vice president and challenger Jefferson “a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.”
One wonders what the average citizen of 1800 thought about those lies and name-calling, which have become an ugly fixture of our politics ever since.
"… But every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country; he should lisp the praise of liberty, and of those illustrious heroes and statesmen, who have wrought a revolution in her favor.”
In this resent post we offered our readers the opportunity to take a pop quiz on 10 basic questions about the Constitution presented by The National Constitution Center (NCC) in Philadelphia. Today NCC released the results of its quiz.
This pathetic showing reflects poorly on Americans’ basic understanding of our nation’s most sacred document.
James Madison did more than any other individual to create the U. S. Constitution. This Constitution Day. We bring you “: James Madison, Father of the Constitution.”
Monday, September 17, marks the 225th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Can you pass a basic, 10-question quiz on the Constitution prepared by The national Constitution Center (NCC)? Let’s see if you know the basic facts about our nation’s blueprint and its most enduring document.
In 2004, Congress passed a controversial provision that required every school and college that receives federal money to teach about the Constitution on September 17.
The quiz contains questions about some basic Constitution facts that have remained unchanged since 1787.
“Miracle at Philadelphia” is Catherine Drinker Bowen's narrative account of the Constitutional Convention that is held in 1787, during which delegates from 12 of the 13 newly independent American states hammer out what will become the United States Constitution, which is still in effect today. Bowen works from the diaries and notes of delegates, including James Madison, and includes contemporary newspaper accounts to paint a human portrait of the Convention, complete with the tensions and dissensions between states that threaten to tear apart the Convention and perhaps even the young country. Miracle at Philadelphia is Catherine Drinker Bowen's narrative account of the Constitutional Convention that is held in 1787, during which delegates from 12 of the 13 newly independent American states hammer out what will become the United States Constitution, which is still in effect today. Bowen works from the diaries and notes of delegates, including James Madison, and includes contemporary newspaper accounts to paint a human portrait of the Convention, complete with the tensions and dissensions between states that threaten to tear apart the Convention and perhaps even the young country.
With the RNC now concluded, we find this quote by Foundng Father and second President of The United States of America John Adams, particularly appropriate considering the tone and messages presented during the convention about returning to America's Founding Principles.
"But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected [sic] before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution."
Monday, January 21, 2013 at 9:23 AM 
President Obama was sworn into office on Sunday just before noon, officially beginning another four-year term. “I did it,” Obama said to the first lady, new bangs and all and his two daughters Sasha and Malia. Meet America'f first five presidents
Opinions & Commentary From Around the Internet: Week of November 9
— George Washington, September 19, 1796
—President Obama, Springfield, Ohio, November2, 2012.