Citizenship began as the idea that free people could govern themselves rather than live as subjects. In the American tradition, that system depends on more than formal rights: it requires an independent middle class, civic education, successful assimilation, and a shared national allegiance. When those foundations weaken, the common bonds that make self-government possible weaken with them.
VIDEO
A healthy civic culture depends not only on institutions, but on how citizens participate in public life. Rebuilding it requires political engagement, greater restraint in public discourse, and a willingness to preserve common civic bonds across deep disagreement.
VIDEO
American self-government depends on power being divided, limited, and accountable to voters. That balance erodes when unelected officials expand their authority, constitutional procedures are bypassed, and national sovereignty is ceded to institutions beyond direct democratic control.
Articles
His providential escape from Brooklyn and Manhattan in 1776 helped save American independence.
August 31, 2026
