Moments in History: The First Time America Invaded Libya

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

—George Santayana

The situation unraveling today between the United States and Libya is fluid at best, but a look back at our Libyan invasion in 1805 shows a president and Congress who authorized military activities without a war declaration.

The “shores of Tripoli” is best known as a verse in the Marine Corps anthem. Today, Tripoli is the larget city in Libya, with 2.2 million people.

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. But it specifies little else in the process. The War of 1812 was the first one that saw a Declaration of War approved by Congress.

Prior to this 1812 declaration, three U.S. military actions were sanctioned by the president and Congress without a war declaration: the "quasi-war" with France, and two military campaigns in North Africa.

However, in 1805 Tripoli was literally a pirates’ den that was a huge thorn in the side of three U.S. presidents: George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

It would take actions started by Jefferson, and then later by James Madison, to send U.S. military forces to the region, without a Declaration of War from Congress. The legislature did approve the military actions by statute, in a manner similar to some recent U.S. actions.

Constitution 201: Total Regulation LBJ’s Great Society

Welcome to part 6 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, November 6.

>>Study Guide - Total Regulation: LBJ's Great Society

Overview

President Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society is the logical extension of Progressive political thought and FDR’s New Deal. While the Founders held that the task of good government is to secure its citizens’ natural rights, LBJ argued that government must eradicate all external constraints—legal, economic, educational, and environmental—which hamper the “spiritual fulfillment” of its citizens. The extensive regulations and programs of the Great Society are thus meant to guarantee not only the right to pursue happiness but also the full achievement of it.

About the Lecturer

Kevin Portteus is assistant professor of politics at Hillsdale College, where he has taught since 2008. Dr. Portteus is faculty advisor for the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program, and teaches courses in American political thought and American political institutions. 

>>Visit the LBJ Presidential Library

Chipping Away at Our Second Amendment Rights

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

—Second Amendment of the United States Constitution 

We the People need to remember that the second amendment was not created for hunting nor was it created for shooting sports. It was created so that in the case of an out of control government that the people could stop a runaway train of anti-constitution politicians. We're not saying that is where we are as a nation, but we must understand the genesis of the Second Amendment from the view of the founders.  uns are legal because the Founding Fathers saw what an out of control government looked like and used guns to stop it.

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“We Are Hungry”

First Lady Michelle Obama, Administration Officials and Let’s Move! advocates reaffirm commitment to raise a healthier generation of kids.

But kids say their message has not been addressed in the media. They are excited about being offered more healthy fruits and vegetables. We feel the protein and carbohydrate limitations, 10-12 ounces a week,are not enough fuel for our average very active student. Most students have a weights class and compete in sports. We see a problem with a one size fits all programs that only are meant to target the overweight student, not the average student as deemed by local governing boards.

Here’s a parody created by students on the national school lunch policy mandated by The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 which humorously shows the results of the limitations in carbohydrates and proteins. To see media reaction to "We Are Hungry" and the Health, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

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• School district proposes trash can cameras to catch kids tossing veggies

Haunted Wisconsin: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Halloween Attractions

Since 2000, Haunted Wisconsin has been providing a comprehensive, up-to-date listing of a variety of Halloween events throughout the state including haunted houses, corn mazes, trick-or-treat dates & times, and pumpkin patches. During the Halloween season, its “Review Crew” travels to participating haunted attractions to report on their experiences so you have a better idea of what to look forward to. In addition Haunted Wisconsin” encourages its customers to review the events they have attended and vote for their favorite haunted attractions! >>Visit Haunted Wisconsin

Constitution 201: FDR’s New Bill of Rights

Welcome to part 5 of our 10-part lecture series presented 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, November 6.

OVERVIEW

PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROSEVELTThoroughly educated in Progressive principles, President Franklin D. Roosevelt believed that the task of statesmanship is to redefine our rights “in the terms of a changing and growing social order.”   While the Founders thought the truths they celebrated in the Declaration of Independence were self-evident and so also timeless and unchanging, FDR argued for a new self-evident economic truth. His proposed “Economic Bill of Rights” lays out the means by which our new economic rights are to be secured, thereby achieving social equality and social justice.

Study Guide - "FDR's New Bill of Rights"

 About the Lecturer:

Will Morrisey is the William and Patricia LaMothe Chair in the U.S. Constitution and Professor of Politics at Hillsdale College, where he has taught since 2000. He teaches courses in American politics, political philosophy, and comparative politics.

 Dr. Morrisey is the author of eight books on statesmanship and political philosophy including Self-Government, The American Theme: Presidents of the Founding and Civil War; The Dilemma of Progressivism: How Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson Reshaped the American Regime of Self-Government; Regime Change: What It Is, Why It Matters; Culture in the Commercial Republic; and Reflections on DeGaulle. He is currently working on a study of the geopolitical strategies of Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle. He has written for the New York Times, Washington Times, the American Political Science Review, the Claremont Review of Politics, and Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy, of which he has served as an editor since 1979. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Kenyon College, and his Ph.D. in political science at the New School University.

The First JFK-Nixon Debate

In 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon squared off in the first televised presidential debates in American history. The Kennedy-Nixon debates not only had a major impact on the election’s outcome, but ushered in a new era in which crafting a public image and taking advantage of media exposure became an essential ingredient of a successful political campaign. They also ushered in the central role television has continued to play in the democratic process.

What The Bleep Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Barbara Bellar is a former nun, a U.S.  Army major, a lawyer, a college professor and a physician. Now Dr. Barbara Bellar wants to be a state senator from Illinois, and she has one question about ObamaCare. Read more…

Constitution 201: Founders vs. Progressives

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Declaration of Independence

JOHN DEWEYWelcome to part 4 of our 10-part lecture series presented 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, November 6.

Overview

Progressivism represents a radical departure from the Founders’ understanding of the purpose and ends of government. Comparing and contrasting the arguments of the Founders and of the Progressives regarding six key principles of government—the meaning of freedom; the purpose of government arising from the meaning of freedom; the elements of domestic policy; the extent of foreign policy; the centrality of the consent of the governed; and the size and scope of government—shows decisively that Progressivism is not a logical outcome of the Founders’ principles, but rather a conscious rejection of them.

Study Guide - "Overview: Founders versus Progressives"

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