Orestes Brownson studied every form of government from the Greeks to the French Republic and, at the end of our most divisive crisis, concluded in The American Republic (1865), “I cannot conceive a more profoundly philosophic, or more admirably devised constitution, than that of our own government.” Brownson’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution—founded on his belief in God, God’s laws of creation, and a consistent anthropology—led him to insights into the origin of government, sovereignty, and majority rule that transcend the genius of our Founders.
Yet, even in his own day, “the people have forgotten its providential origin, treat it as their own creation, as a thing they have made, and may alter or unmake at their pleasure.” Politicians, left and right, deem the violation of the Constitution as “no moral offense, for it is the violation of no moral law, of no eternal and immutable right. Nothing hinders the people, when they find the constitution in the way of some favorite project on which they are bent, from trampling it under their feet, and passing on as if it never had any existence.”
Brownson’s vision of the Constitution, written at the end of our Civil War, is just as importance for us today as we confront our own divisive crisis..
This event took place at the Capitol Visitor Center, Washington, D.C. on June 20, 2024.
Listen to or download the audio HERE.
Watch the video HERE.
Speakers:
Tom McDonough: Introduction
Richard Reinsch II: The Goodness of the American Founding
Elliot Bartky: Culture and Politics
Robert Moffit: Federalism
Thursday, June 20, 2024, 4:30 to 6:00 pm
Capitol Visitor Center, Room HVC-201AB
Washington, DC
Sponsored by:
