Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future
In the midst of frenzied efforts to remake our nation—of endless government initiatives involved in virtually every aspect of our daily lives—Americans are increasingly concerned: How did we get so far off track? And how can we get America back on course?
Matthew Spalding answers these questions by looking to the timeless principles and practical wisdom that have been the source of America's monumental success. Spalding, an expert in American political history at The Heritage Foundation, the esteemed research and educational institution, calls for a great renewal of these unchanging principles—and a new appreciation of their preeminent status in our nation's life.
In We Still Hold These Truths Spalding explains and brings to life ten core principles that define us as a nation and inspire us as a people—liberty and equality, natural rights and the consent of the governed, private property and religious freedom, the rule of law and constitutionalism, all culminating in self-government at home and independence in the world. His enlightening and engaging tour through America's founding not only recalls the deep roots of our "first principles" in Western civilization but also reveals their enduring lessons for today.
DO YOU HOLD THESE TRUTHS?
SIGN The Mt. Vernon Statement
PRE-ORDER The Study Guide
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthew Spalding is the director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation, where he also is the project leader of the First Principles Initiative. An expert on political history and constitutionalism, he is the author or editor of several books.
Read Full Bio.
Reviews
“A clear and compelling case for America's founding principles as an enduring source of real, practical guidance for today, explaining how we got so far off track and laying out how to get our nation back on course.”
- William J. Bennett
Bestselling author of America: The Last Best Hope and nationally syndicated radio host
“In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty. But what are those essentials? And where do we get them from? Matthew Spalding, both a scholar and Knight Templar of American constitutionalism, is uniquely qualified not only to shed light on these questions but also to slay the intellectual dragons pitted against our Republic. This is vital armament in the battle for constitutional restoration.”
- Jonah Goldberg
Editor at large, National Review Online
“At a time when the very freedoms we so recently fought and died for are being challenged on every front, Spalding's robust defense of America's universal principles reminds us why the United States must always be the champion of liberty, and why the self-evident truths it proclaims still inspire all those yearning to live free.”
- Mart Laar
Former prime minister of Estonia
“This book recovers the timeless truths on which our self-governing nation was founded and which made America the model of human freedom. These first principles are the indispensable guides policy makers need now.”
- Paul Ryan
United States Congress
“In his splendid new book, Matthew Spalding provides a spirited defense of the truths asserted by our Founders when they conceived the American republic. Combining the skills of the historian, the philosopher, and the political scientist, Spalding shows why Americans in our time should be no less confident than our forebears in holding these truths, and no less forceful in asserting them.”
- Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Princeton University.
“With his trademark clarity and considerable eloquence, Spalding explains and extols our country's principles and tells us why the way forward depends on reclaiming them. We Still Hold These Truths is must reading for every American.”
- Mitt Romney
Former Governor of Massachusetts
Pre-order the Study Guide