04/07/2026
Come take this great new class with Dr. Brasington next fall!
Thanks to generous grant funding, a new course series will be offered this fall, which will include a SCHOLARSHIP for each qualifying student who registers! Students who take each of the four classes along with their two core history classes will earn a minor in civics!
HIST 2392 Before Philadelphia: Roots of the American Founding
From Dr. Brasington:
“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.” --John Adams
This quote from our second president, John Adams, inspires this course. We shall explore the ancient, medieval, and early-modern roots of that “tree of liberty,” as Jefferson called it, planted at Philadelphia in 1776. From classical sources such as the Roman law, to medieval writers arguing for a separation of church and state and in favor limited government, to theorists such as Machiavelli and Hobbes, these roots are many and diverse, but all running deep into our history. In particular, it will consider in particular the legacy of the English Civil War and its aftermath, for example Algernon’s Sidney’s defense of limited government against divine-right kingship, and John Milton’s Areopagitica and Cato’s Letters, both spirited defenses of free thought and expression. In sum, the course strives to promote the “general knowledge” essential to the preservation of those rights. To study the struggle to make these ideals, both civic and natural, a reality is essential, and calls to mind a quote from another president: Ronald Reagan, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction It has to be fought for and defended by each generation." It is my fervent hope that this course continues the fight.
