Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal starts off with Jack Miller’s latest piece at RealClearEducation. Responding to California Governor Gavin Newsom and his state’s push for reparations, Miller argues that individual initiative and hard work should instead be the engine that drives America – especially in the field of education. Every American should have “a quality education” and be given the opportunity to learn “skills they need to succeed in life.” But failing test scores – especially in history and civics – show that much work needs to be done. Miller lays out a number of ideas on how to turn things around, including having teachers union refocus their efforts on what is best for students and education schools teach content over pedagogy. Miller argues that these core goals should serve this overarching aim: “Our young people need to understand the freedoms our country gives them and the rights and responsibilities they have as citizens.” At RealClearHistory, historian (and JMC faculty fellow) Jonathan W. White writes on the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which Abraham Lincoln issued on September 22, 1863. As White notes, “announcing that if the states of the Confederacy did not return to the Union within 100 days,” Lincoln “would issue a final proclamation freeing the slaves in areas of rebellion.” Lincoln, the man who previously stated in his First Inaugural Address that he could not touch slavery in the states in rebellion, now seemed to change his mind. What happened? “Freeing the slaves, in short, would weaken the Confederate war effort and simultaneously punish the rebels for their treason,” White says. But as Frederick Douglass came to understand, Lincoln’s morality, based on the principles of the Declaration of Independence, dictated bringing “freedom to as many people as he could before he was out of power.” As Douglass himself later wrote, “What he said on this day showed a deeper moral conviction against slavery than I had ever seen before in anything spoken or written by him.” Essential Reading Jack Miller, RealClearEducation In 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a task force to explore reparations for chattel slavery. Recent... In the News Jonathan W. White, RealClearHistory Thomas Kelly, Fulcrum Cameron Smith, Tennessean Ann Flaherty, ABC News Jillian Schneider, The Lion Maya Miller, WBHM Tad Callister, Deseret News Sarah Schwartz, Education Week Jon Meacham, NorthJersey.com Jeff Polet, RealClearHistory David Randall, Martin Center for Academic Renewal Jonathan Den Hartog, Public Discourse Paul G. Summers, Tennessean Arizona PBS National Tribune American Idea Jeff is joined by Ohio Attorney General to discuss the role of an attorney general, the rule... Jack Miller Center Constitution Day, a commemoration of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, is observed annually at Oglethorpe University... Anchoring Truths Join Judge Douglas Ginsburg and Garrett Snedeker, host of the Anchoring Truths Podcast, for a deep dive... CSPAN National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen talked about the importance and impact of the Constitution... Carl Cannon's Great American Stories Good morning, it's Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. On this date 142 years ago, President James A. Garfield finally succumbed to his wounds ... It's Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, and the day of the week when I share a quote meant to be uplifting ... Good morning, it's Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. Another commemoration of the attacks of 9/11 has come and gone. I was ... |