Rediscovering the American Tradition

In Abraham Lincoln's 1861 address to Congress, he made reference to the sentiment held by many throughout history that the form of government employed by the United States is an experiment. Evidence of that feeling persisting today can be seen by textbooks, scholarly journals, websites, etc. that bear the name The American Experiment. An experiment is "an act or operation for the purpose of... testing a principle;" the American experiment is therefore the testing of the principles upon which this great country was founded upon.

After winning freedom from Britain, our Founding Fathers set into motion the experiment, hypothesizing that the consitutional based government would be able to preserve the liberty and freedom of the people of this nation. Although opinions differ on when the United States became a world power, few would disagree that at least at one point in time the United States emerged as a world leader. (Kissinger, 1994; Bailey, 1961; Dulles, 1955) That emergence as world leader is not the only thing supporting the hypothesis; the economic success through the years, the fact that the United States has the highest number of immigrants in the world (Wikpedia), the Olympic success of the country, the many advances in technology originating in America, and the list goes on.

However, with all the grand history that this nation can boast of, the current sentiment is that America is on the decline; culturally, morally, economically, and even athletically. Even if the "decline" may actually be the world catching up, the trends would indicate that the progress of America has slowed. It may be tempting to cite such evidence to dispute the hypothesis of the Founding Fathers, to claim that the experiment is on it's way to failure. However, such thought does not take into considerations the many deviations from the traditions and principles that the Founding Fathers established this country upon.

Through discussions on this blog we hope to rediscover and remember the traditions of our Founding Fathers. In the least, we hope to center ourselves upon the traditions that were meant to be remembered, that were meant to be perpetuated for the good of this nation. Throughout the process, we also hope to be able to start conversations that will make our Founding Fathers proud.