The third article in the series Funding Infrastructure the American System Way. See articles one and two on this site. By Nancy Spannaus March 29, 2021—When Abraham Lincoln launched his first political campaign in 1832, he encapsulated his political principles in his typically folksy way: My politics are short and […]
Part one of a series. Parts two and three are now available on this site. By Nancy Spannaus March 5, 2021—If there’s one issue the “left, right, and center” of American politics agree on, it’s that our country desperately needs to repair and upgrade its infrastructure, from transportation to water, broadband, and […]
Canada and the American Revolution By Gerald Therrien[1] February 18, 2021—Editor’s Note: While this article may appear tangential to this blog’s theme of the American System, I find it highly interesting. After all, why didn’t more of Great Britain’s many colonies – India and Canada, for instance – achieve their […]
By Nancy Spannaus Jan. 17, 2021—While much of the nation celebrates Martin Luther King. Jr. on this weekend, my mind also goes to another American fighter for the common good, Founder Benjamin Franklin. (1706-1790) Today is the 315th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s birth. Franklin was the quintessential organizer of our […]
By Nancy Spannaus[1] Jan. 8, 2021—In the midst of escalating racial and mob violence in the late 1830s, Abraham Lincoln raised the very same question which stands before us today: How can we save the institutions of our republic? His remarks were made in 1838, in an address at the […]
by Anton Chaitkin January 6, 2021–Eighty years ago, on January 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt summarized America’s mission in the world in his Four Freedoms speech. In subsequent declarations and world agreements, the principles of the Four Freedoms came to be recognized as international law, which civilized nations are […]
Dante Alighieri’s Concept of Statecraft And the Lorenzetti Frescoes in Siena by Bonnie James Jan. 5, 2021–The following article was originally published on June 28, 1999 in The New Federalist newspaper. It is reproduced here with minor editing by the author. The occasion for its republication is the 700th anniversary […]
By Nancy Spannaus Dec. 7, 2020–The newly released 2020-2021 edition of Bulletin of Loudoun County History contains a story that will come as a surprise to many: Loudoun County, Virginia was a stronghold of the Federalist Party up until the demise of that institution in 1817. Indeed, this fact even […]
By Nancy Spannaus November 26, 2020—Contrary to popular culture, Thanksgiving Day in the United States was never just about family. From the time of the Pilgrims, to George Washington, to Abraham Lincoln, it was about humbly expressing our gratitude for surviving as a nation (or a community), and committing ourselves […]
By Nancy Spannaus April 5, 2021—I was very happy to see the recent article by Oren Cass of the American Compass, entitled “We’re Just Speculating Here…, The Rise of Wall Street and the Fall of American Investment.” In a lengthy footnoted piece, replete with informative graphics, Cass documents the ways […]
By Nancy Spannaus March 22, 2021—Over the last two days, two prominent advocates for Alexander Hamilton have come forward to defend Hamilton’s legacy as a visionary statesman, including against the charges that he was an “enslaver.” These important initiatives came from Douglas Hamilton, Hamilton’s fifth-great-grandson, who directly took on the […]
Let Us Have Faith That Right Makes Might
In honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday By Nancy Spannaus February 11, 2021–“Let us have faith that right makes might, and, in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.” Those were the words with which presidential aspirant Abraham Lincoln concluded his speech […]