Liberty at the Millennium

Using the written and spoken words of our forbears, this work aims to provide a compact rendition of the central ideas in our founding documents. The words of the founders are eloquent and presented without comment or explanation. The book extends beyond the work done in Independence Hall to employ the words of some people less known, for examplePhillis Wheatley, Paul Cuffe and Hiawathaindividuals close to liberty but far from Philadelphia. The central idea in the founding of America was liberty, its indispensability for the robust life of citizens, its need for protection by a government of special design. Looking ahead, the founders anticipated that Americans ever would need to guard their liberty because of its long history of fragility before forces intrinsic to all governments.