History

Auberon Herbert (1838–1906) was a 19th-century British political philosopher and a member of Parliament, who recognized that each individual has inalienable rights to direct his own mind and body, and to keep and use the product of his own effort. In defense of these rights, Herbert advocated a strictly limited, voluntarily funded, rights-protecting government.

Despite his retrospective missteps, Lincoln repeatedly responded to Douglas’s racist tauntings by turning back to his avowed purpose in the election—to remind voters that “the old principle of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison” was that slavery was wrong and should be placed on a path to extinction.

It can be perfectly appropriate to discuss Lincoln’s flaws and errors. What is not rationally defensible is to demonize Lincoln by quoting him selectively and ignoring relevant historical context and facts, such as the critical fact that the Confederacy fought to preserve and strengthen the most horrifically evil institution in America’s history.

Addresses various claims of Lincoln-bashing libertarians and conservatives; presents crucial and oft-ignored facts about Lincoln, about the Founders he revered, about the state of the Union during his time, and about the Civil War; and provides the context necessary to judge Lincoln and his actions objectively.

Slade Mendenhall reviews The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty, by Timothy Sandefur.

Offers a concise history of the relationships and conflicts between Aristotelianism and the three major monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; illustrates the varying degrees to which Western and Middle Eastern cultures accepted or rejected The Philosopher's ideas and attempted to mix them with religion; and shows the power of rational ideas to sustain and further human life and the power of irrational ideas to throttle and thwart it.

Alexander Hamilton, one of America’s greatest statesmen, was born January 11, 1757. Here are a few of his many vital achievements.

Two hundred forty years ago today, December 16, 1773, to protest a tea tax that implied unlimited power on the part of Britain to tax the colonies, members of the Sons of Liberty boarded British ships and dumped 340 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. This protest was the first…

Shortly after the United States declared independence from Britain in 1776, British troops occupied New York City and, because of its pivotal location and resources, made it the center of their operations throughout the Revolutionary War. On November 25, 1783, the last remnant of British tyranny in the American colonies—its…

Richard M. Salsman reviews Mind vs. Money: The War between Intellectuals and Capitalism, by Alan S. Kahan.