July 4th has passed, but the real work of preserving liberty never ends. It is easy to celebrate independence with fireworks, flags, and family gatherings. But it is harder to understand the principles that made independence meaningful in the first place. America was not founded merely as a break from British rule. It was founded on the belief that rights are not gifts from government, power must be limited, and liberty requires institutions strong enough to restrain those who govern.

That is why I enjoyed this conversation with Dr. Daniel L. Dreisbach, a professor at American University specializing in American constitutional law and history, First Amendment law, and church-state relations. Daniel earned a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and a J.D. from the University of Virginia. He has authored or edited ten books, written widely on constitutional principles, and has been recognized as American University’s Scholar/Teacher of the Year.

Our conversation focuses on one of the most important but often overlooked documents in American history: the Virginia Declaration of Rights. It came before the Constitution, influenced the Bill of Rights, and helped define the language of liberty that shaped the American experiment.

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