History

In the tradition of Ayn Rand’s essay “For the New Intellectual,” Osborne explains that knowing the history of how we got where we are today can teach us what we need to do to reestablish America’s original spirit—and the freedoms that flow from it.

In this excellent video, Timothy Sandefur tells the story of the great American hero Frederick Douglass, one of history’s most influential advocates of freedom.

As Ayn Rand wrote, “To laugh at the contemptible, is a virtue.” With the wit of a Mark Twain and the jaundiced eye of a Richard Mitchell, David Stove practiced this virtue diligently and thus did philosophy a tremendous service.

Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, as polls report the increasing popularity of socialism among young Americans, it’s worth pausing to remember the massive evil it embodied and the bravery that brought it down.

For all of his errors, Jaffa's insistence that the truths of the Declaration are not historical artifacts but timeless principles worthy of defending will make his best work last forever.

Locke’s intellectual honesty was the root of all of his achievements—and it’s on display in his newly uncovered “Reasons for Tolerateing Papists.”

For all its apparent simplicity, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s music resonates because of the precision with which it was written, the discipline with which it was performed, and the bold and joyous spirit it evokes in its fans.

At a time when Americans are once again debating the history of slavery, we must never forget the legacy of Charles Sumner.

Those who built America—the freest and most moral country on earth—stood on the shoulders of John Locke. We who fight for individual rights and freedom today stand on his shoulders, too.

Though he never sought the spotlight nor learned to play guitar, Leo Fender’s creations, including the Telecaster, Precision Bass, and Stratocaster, opened the door for countless young players—and for a revolution in music.