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You are here: Home / Archives for Founding Principles / History / Founding Fathers

What’s Wrong With the Electoral College?

Originally published November 6, 2016, By Shelli Dawdy. Updated February 25, 2018. 1 Comment

What’s Wrong With the Electoral College?

Interest in our system for electing the President of the United States is high. I actually understand why voters feel disenfranchised by the Electoral College as it is presently constituted within 48 states, but the media and political party “powerful” aren’t explaining how the system works, why it was designed as it was. Instead, many people are working to circumvent or abolish it altogether. Read full articleWhat’s Wrong With the Electoral College?

Filed Under: Constitution, Elections, Featured, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, History, Republic vs Democracy Tagged With: allocation of electors, balance of powers, Constitution, democracy, electoral college, popular vote, presidential elections, representation, republic, states

Fourth of July, 1776: America’s Own Brexit

Originally published July 3, 2016, By Linda. Updated July 3, 2016. Leave a Comment

Fourth of July, 1776:  America’s Own Brexit

My son was gaming online with a number of what I call his “virtual friends” shortly after it was announced that Britons had voted to leave the European Union (EU).  Unbeknowst to my son, many of the players in his RP were British.  Upon learning of the outcome of the election, the gamers began to […]

Filed Under: Featured, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, History, Uncategorized

We Can Be Thankful for George Washington’s Example

Originally published November 27, 2014, By Shelli Dawdy. Updated September 11, 2015. Leave a Comment

We Can Be Thankful for George Washington’s Example

Whether you’re staying close to home or traveling far this Thanksgiving, hopefully you’ll have some time for family fun and a bit of relaxation. At a convenient point during our family’s festivities, I’m going to pass around a copy of George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789. I would like my children, who are all now […]

Filed Under: Character, Featured, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, History Tagged With: american history, cincinnatus, george washington, holidays, republic, thanksgiving

America’s Distrust: The Only Darkness is (Constitutional) Ignorance

Originally published September 18, 2014, By Shelli Dawdy. Updated July 21, 2015. 3 Comments

America’s Distrust: The Only Darkness is (Constitutional) Ignorance

The sun has set again on another September 17th. Seemingly just another day in September gone by, one would think. Two hundred twenty-seven years ago on that date, thirty-eight men1The Constitution bears thirty-nine signatures; George Read signed the name of fellow Delaware delegate, John Dickinson, at Dickinson’s request. , representing twelve of the thirteen states, […]

Filed Under: Constitution, Featured, Founding Fathers, History Tagged With: alexis de tocqueville, american history, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, constitutional convention, econtalk, founding fathers, independence hall, jonathan turley, public opinion polling, state sovereignty

George Washington: First in War, First in Peace, First in the Hearts of His Countrymen

Originally published February 20, 2012, By Shellinda. Updated July 21, 2015. Leave a Comment

George Washington: First in War, First in Peace, First in the Hearts of His Countrymen

Editor’s Note: Americans have only relatively recently begun to refer to the third Monday in February as “Presidents’ Day”, including us. It turns out that the holiday has always been and is still officially designated Washington’s Birthday. Click HERE to read more on the subject. George Washington was actually born on February 22, 1732. While […]

Filed Under: Founding Fathers, History Tagged With: america's national anthems, american history, civilization iv music, commander in chief of the continental army, commander-in-chief, confederate congress, continental army, early american history, founding fathers, george washington, george washington biography, george washington birthday, george washington music, hail columbia, henry cabot lodge, history of presidents day, history of the united states, Presidents' Day, Revolutionary War, thomas mifflin, u.s. history, washington, washington resigns his commission, washington's birthday, washington's farewell address

Don’t Know Much About History — The Forgotten Presidents

Originally published February 19, 2012, By Linda. Updated July 21, 2015. 2 Comments

Don’t Know Much About History — The Forgotten Presidents

In celebration of Presidents’ Day, here’s a quiz of sorts: If the colonies declared their independence from Britain in 1776, but George Washington did not become President until 1789, who governed the colonies in the interim? Many readers may know that the Articles of Confederation preceded our American Constitution, but the Articles weren’t even ratified […]

Filed Under: Education, Founding Fathers, History Tagged With: 14th state, american history, american revolution, Articles of Confederation, Confederation Congress, Constitution, continental army, Continental Congress, Don't know much about history, Dumb and Dumber: The Desperate Need for Covenantal and Christian Education, Father of his Country, federal government, first president of the united states, forgotten Presidents, founding fathers, george grant, George Washington's Birthday, government, henry laurens, history facts, history of presidents day, history of the united states, history quiz, ignorance of history, Lincoln's Birthday, little known history, peyton randolph, president, President George Washington, president in the tower of london, President of Congress, Presidents, Presidents' Day, presidents' day quiz, republic of vermont, revolution, Revolutionary War, Sam Cooke, thomas mifflin, u.s. history, Wonderful World

Is It Heartless or Just Lawless? Right and Wrong in a Whatever World

Originally published October 17, 2011, By Linda. Updated July 24, 2016. 1 Comment

Is It Heartless or Just Lawless? Right and Wrong in a Whatever World

What follows is the story of two parents. One is a citizen of the United States, born and bred here, currently living in Ohio. The other is a person who was born in another country and crossed the border into the United States illegally, bringing his or her children along. Both parents placed their children […]

Filed Under: Charity vs Welfare, Civil Society, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, Immigration, Progressivism Tagged With: absolute truth, american citizens, american principles, amnesty, boundary hopping, charitable giving, civil society, compulsory attendance laws, conservatism, conservatives more charitable, conservatives vs liberals, cost of education, democracy vs republic, deportation of illegals, educational theft, ends justify means, ethics, firm foundations, founders, founding philosophy, freedom and liberty, friedman on conservatism, government-run, heartless conservatives, house upon sand vs house upon rock, illegal immigrants, illegal immigration tuition, immigration reform, jesus' sermon on the mount, john adams, judeo christian values, judeo-christian, lawless, lawlessness, liberalism, milton friedman, modern liberalism, moral relativism, morals and public policy, nebraska's ruling class, no child left behind, parental rights, political philosophy, political ruling class, presidential election, private investigators following students, progressivism, prosecuting parents, public education, public schools, representative government, republic vs democracy, rick perry, rick perry heart, rick perry heartless, rick perry illegal immigration, right and wrong, right wrong, rights of citizenship, rule of law, rule of law not men, ruling class, school choice, school districts, secure border, self-government, sermon on the mount, situational ethics, state run education, texas dream act

What It’s All About: The Constitution – Celebrate & Reflect Today & Always

Originally published September 17, 2011, By Shelli Dawdy. Updated September 20, 2011. Leave a Comment

What It’s All About: The Constitution – Celebrate & Reflect Today & Always

For the past couple of weeks here at GiN, we’ve been writing in depth about Nebraska politics. It seems providential, not coincidental, that the series is being published around the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Our primary motivation is a desire to see a restoration of first principles and a return to […]

Filed Under: Constitution, Featured, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, History, It's On The House Tagged With: american history, antonin scalia, classical education, constitution day, constitution of the united states of america, constitutional convention, federal convention on the constitution, founding, founding fathers, founding of america, george washington, government reflection of the people, Grassroots in Nebraska, hail columbia, hillsdale college, hillsdale constitution series, independence hall, james madison, nebraska constitution, original national anthem america, originalism, originalism and the constitution, philadelphia constitutional convention, primary source documents, progressives, progressivism, signing of the constitution, study of constitution, study of history, truth painting, u.s. history, we the people

Unconstitutional: Who Decides? States via Nullification or Supreme Court?

Originally published December 7, 2010, By Shelli Dawdy. Updated February 3, 2013. 4 Comments

Unconstitutional: Who Decides? States via Nullification or Supreme Court?

“Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding, and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties, which may make anything mean nothing or everything, at pleasure.“ Many people are seeking solutions to rein in the growth of government, most particularly […]

Filed Under: Constitution, Featured, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, History Tagged With: 10th Amendment, 17th amendment, adams midnight appointements, alexander hamilton, american history court rulings, american history supreme court, american union, arbiter of constitutional questions, article v constitution, balance of powers, balanced federalism, chief justice marshall, cohens, Constitution, constitutional amendements, constitutional convention, constitutionality, federal government, federal over-reach, federalists, growth of government, history of the supreme court, interposition, james madison, jefferson letters, jefferson original writings, jefferson to johnson, judge johnson, judge made law, judicial branch, judicial over reach, judicial power, judicial powers us government, justice marshall marbury v madison, living constitution, marbury v madison, marshall, nullification, nullification book, original republicans, president jefferson, repeal, republic vs democracy, republicans, role of state governments, role of states, secretary of state madison, separation of powers, state nullification, state sovereignty, states, supreme court, Tenth Amendment, thomas jefferson, thomas jefferson letters, thomas woods, true federalism, us constitution, us constitution amendment process, us supreme court decisions, us supreme court rulings

Whose Side ARE the Founders On? Easy.

Originally published July 9, 2010, By Shelli Dawdy. Updated January 24, 2011. Leave a Comment

Whose Side ARE the Founders On? Easy.

By Shelli Dawdy This is the third and final in a series examining an article in the Lincoln Journal Star on July 4 entitled “Whose side are the Founding Fathers on?” Just click one of the titles to read the first part: “The Founding? Move Along Folks, Nothing to See There. Onward Progress!” or second […]

Filed Under: Constitution, Founding Fathers, History Tagged With: american history, benjamin franklin, Constitution, constitutional convention, declaration, founding fathers, george washington, gin, Grassroots in Nebraska, history of progressivism, ignorance of history, independence day, john adams, journal star, limited government, lincoln journal star article, ljs, media bias, miracle in philadelphia, philosophy of the founding, progress in history, progress of history, progressive arguments, progressive thought, progressives, progressivism, ratification of the constitution, religion and america, rewriting history, the founding, the lincoln journal star, thomas jefferson, throw away the constitution, u.s. history, whose side are the founders on?

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GiN's Nullification Series provides a hint:
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