Sharpening the debate over the values that formed America's founding political philosophy, Barry Alan Shain challenges us to reconsider what early Americans meant when they used such basic political concepts as the public good, liberty, and slavery. We have too readily assumed, he argues, that eighteenth-century Americans understood these and other terms in an individualistic manner. However, by exploring how these core elements of their political thought were employed in Revolutionary-era...

"In God We Trust?" The separation of church and state is a widely contested topic in the American political arena. Whether for or against, debaters frequently base their arguments in the Constitution and the principles of the American founding. However, Americans' perception of the founding has narrowed greatly over the years, focusing on a handful of eminent statesmen.By exploring the work of nine founding fathers, including often overlooked figures like John Carroll and George Ma...