Orestes Brownson Essay Contest

Orestes Brownson was one of America’s most robust thinkers and prolific writers of the Nineteenth Century. Prior to the Civil War he studied every form of government from the Greeks to the French Republic and, at the end of that 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 today he is known by only a few and his penetrating thought is not included in the canon of American political scholarship.

American Family Project sees Brownson as a critical force in positioning the Family as the foundation for a flourishing republic and we we want to stimulate academic research in the vast body of Brownson’s works, not only politics but science and technology, capitalism and socialism and his unique insight into America’s special mission in the world.

To accomplish this we will conduct an essay contest for university students with cash prizes. The more money we raise, the more attention the contest will garner.

If you are a university student who would like more information on the contest, please complete the short form here.

If you would like to contribute to the contest prize money, please do so here.