← Hillsdale College Podcast Network Superfeed
Hillsdale College Podcast Network Superfeed
Why the Declaration of Independence Still Matters
00:15:22
Loading summary
Transcript14 lines
- [00:03]
A
You know the Robertson family from the hit TV show Duck Dynasty. Now Hillsdale College offers you the unique opportunity to learn alongside the Robertsons as they dive deep into Hillsdale's online course, the Genesis Story. Every Friday on the Unashamed podcast, the Robertsons will share their insights and perspectives. Learning from Hillsdale professor of English Justin Jackson. Take a trip down south to Louisiana for this one of a kind learning experience we call Unashamed Academy. Visit unashamedforhillsdale.com and enroll today. That's unashamedforhillsdale dot com to experience the genesis story alongside the ROBERT. To celebrate 250 years of freedom, Hillsdale College's Matthew Spalding along with professors From Hillsdale in D.C. sit down with Larry O' Connor of WMAL to discuss the truths that make this country great. This is Hillsdale on the Hill.
- [01:26]
B
As you know, the United States of America is celebrating their 250th birthday. What am I saying? They we, we are celebrating our 250th birthday, declaring independence on July 4, 1776 from the tyrannical King George III. And here at WMAL, we recognize we have a really unique honor of being the news talk radio station of record here in the nation's capital during this incred. So we really wanted to sort of approach this special occasion with seriousness, with patriotism and sort of have a year long conversation about the importance of this extraordinary time. And we wanted to get someone who was smart, hopefully somebody from academia and somebody who loved this country and knows what they're talking about. And let me just tell you something. When you start looking at colleges and universities in Washington D.C. that patriotic part is the toughest one, right? There's really only one answer and that's Hillsdale College, specifically Hillsdale College's Washington D.C. campus. That's where the Van Andel Graduate School of Government is. And of course, who you gonna get? Well, you're gonna get Dr. Matthew Spalding, Vice President for Washington Operations, Dean of that very school of government and the author of the brand new book the Making of the American Mind. The Story of our Declaration of Independence. I mean, it's a no brainer. Dr. Spalding, good morning and happy birthday America.
- [02:55]
C
Good morning to you, Larry. Yes, Happy birthday to America. This is a nice coincidence of events
- [03:02]
B
and by the way, listen, we're going to be talking about all facets of this story, the history what brought us to the Declaration of Independence, which sadly, by the way, I don't think a lot of people are learning this in school right now. Let alone in higher education. But we're also going to talk about the wider context, about why it's relevant to us every single day here in America. Especially here in this town where the vision of our founders sort of plays out every single day. Sometimes the way they envisioned it, sometimes, well, quite the opposite. But let's start at the sort of fundamental here. Dr. Spalding, why is it even important that we acknowledge this birthday and celebrate it?
- [03:39]
C
That's a good question. It's extremely important, probably more important than we think. Larry, I don't know about you, but I remember I was in middle school and 1976. I remember those tall ships and parades and the freedom train coming through. All that is important to shaping who we are to have these events, these commemorations, these unique opportunities and all of those things, the little things we think of when we think of the fourth of July, the parades, the fireworks, are an aspect of what Tocqueville called instinctive patriotism. That is the small things that draw us in. We learn about our parents or the guy down the street being in the war or our ancestors in World War II. Things that draw us toward this tradition and then what eventually becomes it has to become in a republic. Remember, America is a different form of government. It's a self governing republic. And here that instinctive form of patriotism has become what's been called an informed or reflective patriotism of citizens knowing the source of their rights and practicing self government and actually participating and understanding what it means. And so for us, for this country in particular, it's not merely a love of this place, although it is that right. We love our country, where we're from, our family, our community, we love that. But there's this additional thing we need to come to love and to know. And that's what America actually is, what it represents, the idea of it, what we're trying to do, what we aspire to do, and the source of our truths and our government and the ideas that the government is based upon. Not just the government today, but the government supposed to be. And so our history, always the history of this country in particular points backwards in a way. Not in the sense that it's older, old fashioned or stuck in the mud, but it points back to our beginnings. Yeah, our ends are in our beginnings. It's very strange when you think about it, but our highest law is our first law. Well, that's because the importance of that thing that began, which is what we broadly call our founding, are beginning and that shapes us. And I would argue it still Shapes us today. I mean, gosh, you see on the left, on the right, Democrats, Republicans, they all have to make references back to the Declaration, the Constitution. It's constantly being discussed and debated. Much of the debate today, I would suggest to you, much of the argument today about culture, about politics, about who we are, about immigration, you name it. It's all a debate about what is America, who are we and what does that mean. So this is a prominent central thing right now about our political lives. And it's a perfect time to go back and to recall this history, remember this history, learn it again if you don't know about it and a result, absorb and think about its truths and what it actually, the ideas behind it again, perhaps for the first time.
- [06:56]
B
Well, I was stunned to learn that, you know, the celebrations of the Declaration of Independence, that they didn't even wait for the first year anniversary, you know, here we are at 250 years. They were celebrating the moment it happened. And I love the story, you know, a bunch of, you know, patriotic hooligans there in Lower Manhattan outside Chauncey's Tavern. They got wind of it. Somebody read it to the crowd there. They got so excited that they marched up to the government building there and tore down the statue of King George. And I think they melted it down to make, they made bullets for their, or pellets for their muskets out of the smelted down statue of the King. So it's like celebrating the Declaration of Independence literally goes back to the moment the Declaration was signed.
- [07:43]
C
Absolutely. No, that's absolutely right. And that's because they understood that this was a. We referred to the American Revolution, but it wasn't revolutionary in the sense of the French Revolution, which was about just tearing things down and overthrowing everything. But it was radical. And I use that word specifically because the word radical actually means going back to the root, to the root of things. The Declaration was radical. It went back to first principles, the fundamentals. We're breaking with the King. We don't like what he's doing. He's taxing us, he's sending over hestias to kill us. We're going to break with the King, but we're going to start our own country. And we're going to start on the most fundamental, the most important principles we can come to understand as human beings, which is what the Declaration is about. And they understood how important that was. When I studied all of this about the Founding, the founders, what do they write about by comparison? Well, they of course know a lot of English history, in the history of England. But they also talk about the founding of Rome, the founding of Athens. They're thinking in much larger world historical terms here. And so that beginning moment they understood to be completely, very centrally important.
- [08:51]
B
And the exodus of the Hebrews from the tyranny of the pharaoh as well was a big part of what there. I remember reading about that as well. All right, Dr. Spalding, stay there. There's more to come here about this beginning of a year long conversation we're gonna have here at various times for this America 250 celebration. One thing they didn't have to worry about back then was bad traffic here off the Chesapeake Bay. This little place that wasn't even a place yet. Washington, D.C. we continue with Dr. Matthew Spalding, Vice president for Washington Operations, Dean of the Van Andel Gradu government. His new book is the Making of the American Mind. The Story of Our Declaration of Independence. For more information about the Van Andel Graduate School for Government and quite possibly a huge opportunity for you to get that degree, go to DC Hillsdale Edu for you, for a friend of yours, for your kids. D.C. hillsdale edu. Real fast. Cause Cassie wants to get in here too. But you said something there about how this wasn't just about tearing down and breaking away, but it was about starting something based on principles and values. There is something so unique about us in that, you know, I get, you know, Bastille Day, they celebrate something in France, Bastille Day, and I guess, you know, the culmination or of their revolution. But that's not the origin of France. Right. That wasn't the beginning of France. There was a France before Bastille Day. This was something so unique that now we can point to the moment that this country began, when it really was. All it was was colonies. Before that.
- [10:18]
C
No, that's right. Most nations, in the sense that we think of the term, have birthdays. It's actually a modern phenomena which America is really the first. France has a long history before the revolution. Germany. I have actually no idea when Germany began. It began many times over, over thousands of years. But America actually has a birthday that's important to think about, which say there was a break, but then there was a. What we call a founding. And what's amazing about America is that this revolution was highly deliberative. I mean, there were a series of meetings and congresses and they wrote pamphlets and it was very thoughtful. And then they debated it in a legislature and they voted on it. That's not the beginning of a Quote, unquote, revolutionary nation. It was a revolution to establish a constitutional republic. So rare, so amazingly rare in world history and so radical, to use the term I used earlier, that they understood that the import of that was the equivalent historically of the beginnings of Rome or Athens or some very important historical society or way of life. And they understood that, which is why they were understood to be an experiment, which is why they put so much pressure on future generations to maintain it. It's so rare and important to keep this going.
- [11:47]
D
And as you say that, I was thinking back and I just looked it up, that we are at a record low of Americans who say they are proud to be an American, 58%, which is actually a record low. And when you think about celebrating this entire year, the 250 over the entire year, is this the opportunity for that renaissance of American pride? And I think back to the segment you mentioned, Larry's discussion just a couple minutes ago. That doesn't mean that you're just a Homer for America, that you just, oh, agree with everything. It's, in fact, the exact opposite, as you were just saying. It is the opportunity to have open discourse, to have debate in the spirit of our founding and does this match our ideals and that for which we stand and all of that. And to speak to, of course, Hillsdale. I mean, you guys seem to be an outlier these days in our educational education system of those who are really teaching not only students to be good free thinkers, but also about the origins of our country, the true origins, and what that means as to your responsibility to carry on this great American experiment,
- [12:50]
C
you're absolutely correct there. And let me emphasize the point you made, which is the opportunity we have here. It's a unique opportunity. There'll be a national focus because of a number of things, big celebrations, but also Coca Cola will have something in their cans. There'll be all these references. It's an invitation to kind of learn something again. Think about it. So I think it is a unique opportunity, which is responsibility on us, on all of us. How do we communicate in this? At this moment? We're going to have a nation's attention. Very rare moment, number one. Number two, I think a lot of Americans, especially young Americans, have been bombarded for some time now running down their country, and it's wrong. It made all these mistakes, and it's. I think they're open to hearing a different story, which is why I want to write my book. What is the real story here? I want to hear that story. Now, the claim here, which I think is a straw man. It's not that this country is perfect. We are imperfect human beings. We're flawed, we're sinful. That's not the point is what are the principles upon which we said we were going to build a nation and how well have we aspired to those principles? Can we do better? Yes. Can we continue to do better? Yes. But the nation, this thing, this way of life, this country that came out of that is an inspiring, noble effort. And I think we have an obligation to ourselves, to our friends, to our children, to tell them that story. It's a great story. It's not the story that, you know, the perfect story that we might want to see, but as we grow up and see the difficulties, the sacrifices, the fights our country went through, the wars our country has gone through, we see that it's a noble effort. And that's the point. That's the point. And we really do want to come to love it. That patriotism has got a bad name nowadays, but it is patriotism. Love. Lots of things. We. We love are not perfect, but we still love them because we know in their being that they're. They're lovable. That's what America is.
- [14:57]
B
I would like to go on the record to state that I am a Homer for America. I'm sorry I'm a Homer. I don't mind it very rare that I'm not rooting for this country. I can't wait, Dr. Spalding, to continue this conversation throughout the year. It's, in a way, Hillsdale Colleges and WMAL's gift to everyone in this area. And it's the gift that keeps on giving, because if you go to wmal.com, you can download this conversation as soon as it's up because it just happened. And throughout the year, you get these conversations in podcast form as we, in this unique moment here in time and location here in the nation's capital, celebrate and acknowledge everything that went into our independence and the signing of that declaration 250 years ago and all the struggles and all the challenges that had to be overcome. It's going to be a great conversation. Dr. Spalding couldn't think of a better person to have it with. Thanks for joining us today, and we look forward to our next one.
- [15:52]
C
Great being with you, Larry. Look forward to it.
- [15:54]
A
Thanks for listening to Hillsdale on the Hill, presented by Hillsdale College. To learn more about the Van Andel Graduate School of Government and Hillsdale's work in our Nation's capital, visit D.C. hillsdale. EDU that's D.C. hillsdale EDU.